A New Fund to Hedge Inflation
Horizon Kinetics Inflation Beneficiaries ETF, introduced in January, offers some tools to battle inflation.
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Newsletter sign up Newsletter

Economists can (and do) argue over just how permanent current inflationary pressures are. But they agree that consumer costs are soaring. Kiplinger forecasts 5.4% inflation through the rest of 2021, easing to 3% in 2022 – higher than the 2% average between 2016 and 2019.
Investors have some familiar tools to beat back inflation. Treasury inflation-protected securities come to mind first, and commodity funds and stocks tend to act as nice hedges as well.
The new-ish Horizon Kinetics Inflation Beneficiaries ETF (INFL (opens in new tab)), introduced in January, offers another, more diversified way to crack that egg. The exchange-traded fund has rapidly amassed $675 million in assets.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Inflation Beneficiaries invests in a roughly 50-50 split of domestic and international firms that are exposed – directly or indirectly – to assets that should increase in value alongside inflation, but that don't incur much in extra business expenses themselves.
"These companies do not need to spend a lot of money to earn their returns," says Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research for Wall Street research firm CFRA.
Materials-sector stocks such as miners Franco-Nevada (FNV (opens in new tab)) and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM (opens in new tab)) make up 22% of INFL's assets, and the energy sector claims another 19%. But tops in the ETF are financial stocks – including German marketplace organizer Deutsche Börse and New York–based insurer and professional services firm Marsh & McLennan (MMC (opens in new tab)) – which make up nearly one-third of the portfolio.
Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of Young and The Invested (opens in new tab), a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of parents and children. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea (opens in new tab) newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.
Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism.
You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley (opens in new tab).
-
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Skyrockets After Meta Earnings, Buyback News
The Dow, on the other hand, closed lower on disappointing guidance from Merck (MRK).
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Do This One Thing and Save a Month of Full-Time Work Every Year
Sponsored People spend about 170 hours a year on managing personal finances.
By Sponsored • Published
-
The 5 Best Actively Managed Fidelity Funds to Buy Now
mutual funds In a stock picker's market, it's sometimes best to leave the driving to the pros. These Fidelity funds provide investors solid active management at low costs.
By Kent Thune • Published
-
The 12 Best Bear Market ETFs to Buy Now
ETFs Investors who are fearful about the more uncertainty in the new year can find plenty of protection among these bear market ETFs.
By Kyle Woodley • Published
-
Don't Give Up on the Eurozone
mutual funds As Europe’s economy (and stock markets) wobble, Janus Henderson European Focus Fund (HFETX) keeps its footing with a focus on large Europe-based multinationals.
By Rivan V. Stinson • Published
-
10 Bond Funds to Buy Now
Investing for Income Bond funds have seen sizable losses so far this year, but yields are now rising to attractive levels for income-starved investors.
By Adam Shell • Published
-
Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Profits from ESG Leaders
mutual funds Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock (VEIGX) favors firms with high standards for their businesses.
By Rivan V. Stinson • Published
-
Kip ETF 20: What's In, What's Out and Why
Kip ETF 20 The broad market has taken a major hit so far in 2022, sparking some tactical changes to Kiplinger's lineup of the best low-cost ETFs.
By Nellie S. Huang • Published
-
ETFs Are Now Mainstream. Here's Why They're So Appealing.
Investing for Income ETFs offer investors broad diversification to their portfolios and at low costs to boot.
By Nellie S. Huang • Published
-
Do You Have Gun Stocks in Your Funds?
ESG Investors looking to make changes amid gun violence can easily divest from gun stocks ... though it's trickier if they own them through funds.
By Ellen Kennedy • Published