Total global commodity assets under management (AUM) rose to a six-month high of $186 billion in February from $171 billion in January, Barclays said. The AUM have surged by almost 12 percent since the end of 2015 on a combination of large inflows into commodities and price appreciation, the bank said in a note. However, the upward trend could be difficult to sustain since recent price gains were not fueled by improving fundamentals, it added.
"Precious metals (mainly gold) have attracted the largest portion of investor inflows with around a third of the total ($7 billion, which suggests a substantial amount of investor uncertainty about the future, rather than a vote of confidence in the outlook for commodity fundamentals.