Fund of the week: A long-term play on agriculture

One of the big problems with investing in agriculture is volatility. And this ‘field-to-fork’ fund has certainly given investors a hairy ride, plunging 20% in its first year before returning 17% a year since then.

"Spare a thought for farmers as you enjoy the warm weather," says Henry Boucher, manager of the Sarasin AgriSar Fund. Droughts aren't a problem limited to Britain alone. "At this time of year the soft commodity markets are sensitive to every weather report and swing between optimism and pessimism about the current crop." That leads to one of the big problems with investing in agriculture: volatility. While the long-term trend is for rising food prices on the back of increasing global demand, over the short term the weather can play havoc with prices.

So you need to be prepared to invest for at least five years, says Gavin Haynes, managing director of Whitechurch Securities in The Daily Telegraph.

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Sarasin AgriSar Fund3.2
Cermaq Asa3.0
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan2.8
Yara International Asa2.7
Syngenta AG2.6
Marine Harvest Asa2.6
Archer Daniels Midland Co2.5
Agco Corp2.5
Bunge Ltd2.4
Uralkali-Spon GDR-REG S2.4
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