Gold remains the safe haven hedge for many investors when risks threaten. You need look no further than the price performance and demand this year to understand its value in portfolios. Investors looking to add gold to their portfolios while also diversifying across commodities don’t want to miss the Neuberger Berman Commodity Strategy ETF (NBCM).
Amidst significant market drawdowns this year, the stability of gold as a store of value proved a popular choice with investors. As funds flowed into gold ETFs and demand grew, prices climbed. Gold notched record highs in the tariff-induced market crash in April, and continues to make headway at the beginning of June.
Spot gold prices climbed once more on Monday on renewed China-U.S. trade tensions, geopolitical risks, and economic uncertainty. Ongoing market volatility and the associated risk-off sentiment of investors creates a favorable environment for the precious metal.
“The latest tariff threats on Friday, including plans to double steel and aluminium tariffs to 50% along with Ukraine’s weekend attacks deep into Russia, have heightened geopolitical risks and are fuelling risk-off sentiment,” Peter Grant, vice president, senior metals strategist at Zanier Metals, told Reuters.
Renewed trade optimism in May halted gold’s meteoric price gains this year. However, with new tariff threats and uncertainty, coupled with ratcheting geopolitical tensions, the future could be bright for gold price momentum.
Harness Gold Momentum While Diversifying Commodity Exposures
NBCM has provided noncorrelated performance this year, gaining during several periods when equities fell. The fund is currently up nearly 500 basis points YTD over the S&P 500, measured using the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).
The actively managed NBCM seeks total returns by investing in a diverse portfolio of commodities. By using a risk-weighted approach, it seeks to reduce the impacts of market volatility. The strategy also focuses on commodity scarcity and works to hedge for the potential of backwardation and demand.
NBCM invests globally across six different sectors and 28 commodities. These include gold and other metals, oil, agricultural products, and natural gas. Gold is currently the largest commodity within the fund, at an 18.22% weight as of May 30, 2025. Behind gold, top exposures include copper at 7.54%, natural gas at 5.13%, and corn at 4.95%.
The fund managers use quantitative models and fundamental analysis when evaluating securities for short- and long-term opportunities and optimizing roll yield. NBCM invests in long and short positions in commodities and fixed income securities, most of which are investment-grade bonds.
NBCM carries an expense ratio of 0.65%.
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