Celent, a Boston-based financial research and consulting firm, is launching a new commodities research service on December 1, 2008.
In line with Celent’s current service offerings in the areas of Capital Markets, Finance & Risk, Wealth Management, Banking, and Insurance, the new research service will focus exclusively on commodities and will aim to deliver the latest thinking and insights around commodities trading strategies, operational practices, and technological underpinnings. Celent’s unique research and advisory service will help financial institutions and technology providers stay abreast of industry trends, analyze and seize opportunities, and monitor the playing field.
"Since we became part of Oliver Wyman last February, we have been working diligently on improving our service offerings within the securities and investments domain," said Dr. Mayiz Habbal, senior vice president of the Capital Markets practice. "Launching a brand new service focused on the commodities markets is another step towards specialized and focused services."
"The Finance & Risk service launched in May of this year was the first of such services, and it has exceeded expectations," Dr. Habbal added. "We are excited to launch the Commodities service."
The often overlooked and even avoided commodities market exploded into a $240 billion dollar industry in 2007. Investor interest in commodities as an alternative investment class is a riveting subplot underlining growth of the commodities market. Similar to fixed income inflows in the 1990s, both institutional and retail investors have started utilizing commodity assets as a portfolio diversification tool, with the added potential of higher relative returns than conventional stocks. Due to their large endowments, pension funds have also been at the center of such developments.
The story of the commodities market’s evolution is quite interesting. Celent has found that market participants who have embraced commodities as an essential investment asset class are eager to accelerate their understanding of this field.
Celent’s new research service will delve into issues of:
Market trends, trading volumes, and revenues generated
Risk management
Post-trade processing
The role of hedge funds
Algorithmic trading for commodities
Structured products
Commodities trading for retail investors
Exchanges and alternative trading platforms for commodities
OTC derivatives markets
Collateral management
The new service will offer a unique proposition of research, practical implementation insights, and collective best practice intellectual capital from Celent and Oliver Wyman.
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