Janus Henderson launches an active management hybrid commodities fund
8 APR, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
Janus Henderson Investors has announced the launch of JREAL, an actively managed commodity fund that integrates commodity derivatives and commodity-linked stocks into a single portfolio.
The vehicle aims to offer attractive long-term returns, with diversification and potential hedging against inflation, as a complement to traditional equity and fixed income allocations.
Strategy and portfolio allocation
JREAL's design contemplates approximately 60% in commodity derivatives, managed through a proprietary long/short trend-following program, and 40% in commodity-related stocks, which allows access to both the underlying asset and its global supply chain. The exposure is concentrated in four major sectors: energy, industrial metals, precious metals, and agriculture.
In the derivatives part, the long/short and active management strategy offers exposure to 30 liquid and exchange-traded commodity futures. According to the firm, this approach aims to reduce downturns and improve risk-adjusted returns throughout market cycles, maintaining diversification benefits. Compared to traditional long-only futures-based strategies, JREAL positions itself as a hybrid alternative that aims to mitigate historical challenges such as negative carry, large downturns, increased correlations in episodes of stock market tension, and limitations for integrating ESG and responsible investment criteria. By combining derivatives and stocks, the framework provides access to the entire value chain and seeks attractive returns with diversification, potential protection against inflation, and greater resilience to specific market disruptions.
Market context and management team
The launch is based on Janus Henderson's thesis that commodities could be entering a long-term structural supercycle, supported by seven secular themes:
- Decarbonization
- Growth of data centers and increased energy demand driven by AI
- Dollar devaluation
- Increase in defense spending
- Protracted disinvestment in resource supply
- De-globalization
- Demographic changes
JREAL is managed by a team experienced in liquid alternative assets and real assets. The diversified alternative assets component is led by Robert Shimell and Mark Richardson, while the natural resource equity portfolio is managed by Daniel Sullivan, Darko Kuzmanovic and Tal Lomnitzer. The fund is distributed through Janus Henderson Fund SICAV, domiciled in Luxembourg and suitable as a UCITS.
Clients are increasingly looking for new ways to diversify their portfolios and protect against inflation, and JREAL aims to provide resilience during periods of high inflation, geopolitical tension, supply disruptions and extreme weather events, which have historically influenced commodity markets.
Ignacio De La Maza, Head of EMEA and Latin America Client Group at Janus Henderson
Commodities are re-emerging as an attractive investment prospect, but the way investors access them is important. The usual challenges of long position futures exposure, such as negative carry, sharp drops, correlation spikes, limited breadth, and ESG restrictions, can be addressed through a more modern hybrid approach. An approach that combines commodity equity allocation with commodity derivatives using a long and short position strategy, thus accessing the entire supply chain. This creates a framework designed to seek attractive returns, while offering genuine diversification, the potential for inflation protection and consideration of market disruptions driven by events, all while maintaining daily liquidity. With de-globalization, decarbonization and geopolitics reshaping markets, an innovative approach to commodities is a prudent response to the structural forces that will define the next decade.
Rob Shimell, Portfolio Manager of Diversified Alternatives at Janus Henderson
