Unfortunately, nothing can provide a hedge against inflation shocks
After a long period of low interest rates, an inflation shock would have very negative effects on bond investors’ situation, given the resulting surge in interest rates. Is it possible to hedge against inflation shocks? It is often argued that to hedge against inflation, an investor should invest in assets related to the real economy (equities, real estate) since the prices of these assets will track goods and services prices and therefore provide a hedge against inflation. Unfortunately , this idea is not correct: if central banks react to inflation in the normal way , inflation shocks trigger a rise in real interest rates, and therefore drive share and real estate prices down and not up . Even holding assets related to the real economy cannot provide a hedge against inflation shocks.