Novartis Pension Funds has announced that it is planning to invest some of its funds in the precious metals market.

The manager of the Swiss company has told Reuters that the organisation is to invest four per cent of its $11.37 billion in the precious metals sector, one per cent of which will be put into platinum, while another one per cent will be invested in the palladium market.

Speaking in a telephone interview, Andre Ludin, head of portfolio management at Novartis, said: "We have decided and we will do it. We will do it very slowly because we have to be very careful for platinum and palladium."

Mr Ludin also revealed that the company is aiming to invest its fund in the stocks of big precious metals companies and is keen to be involved in the rise of the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market.

He described platinum as "the future metal", explaining that the company would be investing in platinum because the usage of the metal in catalysts and fuel cell technology means demand is set to continue to grow in the future.

Sources:

RTRS-EXCLUSIVE-INTERVIEW-Novartis Pension Funds to invest in metals, 21/05/07
http://www.reuters.com/article/health-SP/idUSL2168137120070521

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