By Elizabeth Campbell Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Commodity funds pulled in more than $1 billion in investments for a second straight week, pushing inflows for the year to $14.6 billion, according to EPFR Global. Investments fell slightly in the week ended Nov. 25 from the record $1.34 billion placed in commodity funds in the previous week, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EPFR said today in a report sent by e-mail. Investors put money in the funds to hedge against dollar weakness and inflation, EPFR said. The inflows were “largely driven by physical commodity funds,” Brad Durham, an EPFR managing director, said by telephone. “The last two weeks were both very strong.” Gold, natural-gas, oil and silver funds accounted for a “pretty sizable amount” of the total inflows to physical- commodity investment vehicles, Durham said. Such funds received about $7.9 billion, or 54 percent, of the year-to-date investments into that group, Durham said. Flows into physical-commodity funds accelerated as November began, Durham said. About $2.9 billion of net inflows have been collected by the funds since Nov. 4, he said. “The demand for commodities globally is on the rise,” Durham said. “As the dollar weakens, commodity prices tend to rise.” The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials climbed 20 percent this year through Nov. 20, led by copper, gasoline and sugar. The CRB gained as much as 1.3 percent today as the dollar slid against a basket of six major currencies. To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net

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