Some allocators and managers are doing this, expecting a price pop ahead and collecting nice interest payouts along the way.

This century has been unkind, but maybe some can squeak by with only modest improvements.

Ever since the SEC’s spring crackdown, these once-popular investments have wilted. But their excesses are being leached away.

Many institutions, wary of the asset class’s notorious volatility, keep their exposure low despite raw material price climbs.

Institutional investors mostly want to direct their non-market-correlated strategies themselves, but acceptance of these retail-oriented alternatives is inching up.