Ewolucja działalności inwestorów finansowych na rynkach towarowych

Abstract

The paper discusses the transformation of the structure of commodity investment, the changes in the strategies adopted by financial investors, and the effects of those changes on both price movements and the relationships between these investments and other financial assets (primarily stocks). In conclusion of the paper the changes in the CFTC classification of investors are presented, which should be considered as the institution’s attempt to adapt to the new economic reality. Based on the existing body of research it may be concluded that the financial crisis not only affected the scale of the involvement of financial investors in commodity markets but also transformed their strategies into more active ones. The structure of commodity investments underwent major changes, diminishing the role of the OTC market in favour of the ETFs. Furthermore, following the changes in the financial investors’ strategies, the prices of individual commodities within commodity groups (owing to index trading) became separated rather than related to the prices of other financial assets (stocks). In response to all the above-mentioned changes, attempts have constantly been made to improve the classifications of commodity investors to ensure more transparency of their operations.