Real assets investing is commonly used by many large institutions for inflation protection and diversification benefits. Real Asset Strategies offers liquid alternatives with a focus on similiar benefits using publicly traded securities along with reasonable fees and minimums. We do not include investments often found in other "real asset" strategies because we do not believe that they will deliver significant diversification or inflation protection.
As an investor, and purchaser of goods and services, you have inflation risk on two different fronts. High inflation obviously makes purchases more expensive and it can also be detrimental to both stock and bond returns.
A portfolio of just equities and fixed income has generally worked very well for a long time but with current conditions it may not repeat the results. Further, the diversification benefits of a stock/bond combination can change under different economic circumstances. Including a properly constructed real assets portfolio can add inflation protection to a portfolio.