Jefferies plans to increase its headcount to pitch new commodity offerings, Jefferies Asset Management co-president Adam De Chiara told Bloomberg. The number of staff additions and the timing of the expansion were not reported.

“Given what’s going on in the world from a macro standpoint, there is a tremendous interest on the part of investors right now to have exposure to real assets," De Chiara told the wire service.

Among the offerings Jefferies has in registration with the SEC include a mutual fund and two ETFs.

The mutual fund, the Jefferies Asset Management Commodity Strategic Allocation Fund, will be advised by ALPS Advisors and sub-advised by Jeffries, according to the SEC filing. ALPS Fund Services is the fund's administrator and transfer agent, and ALPS Distributors is the fund's distributor. Thus far, expense ratios have not been designated.

The fund will mix commodity derivatives like futures with equities, in an attempt to mimic the performance of the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Commodity Equity Index.

The two new ETFs will both track Thomson Reuters/Jefferies indices as well, according to Bloomberg. The passively-managed Jefferies TR/J CRB Commodity Index ETF will follow the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies Commodity Index ETF.

The Jefferies Commodity Real Return ETF will follow the performance of the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB 3 Month Forward Index as well as additional income generated from TIPS.

Jefferies filed for its first two ETFs, the Initial Equity Fund and Initial Fixed Income Fund in September 2009. The firm followed the launch with a suite of more index-funds, including the Jefferies TR/J CRB Global Industrial Metals Equity Index Fund, Jefferies TR/J CRB Agriculture Equity Index Fund, Jefferies TR/J CRB Global Commodity Equity Index Fund, and the Jefferies TR/J Wildcatters Exploration & Production Equity ETF. 

Edited by: Daniel Tovrov


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