Institutional investors in the UK are increasingly interested in commodities investments, according to Lyxor Asset Management, which has surveyed 20 of the top 100 pension funds in the country.

Lyxor's finding - that six of its respondents, or 30%, want to increase allocations to raw materials like oil, metals and food products in the next five years - chimes with calls from schemes' investment consultants for greater diversification of assets.