Are higher commodity prices the canaries in the inflation coalmine and are we about to enter a period of runaway inflation? That was the question that a recent PAM Insight roundtable, in association with Invesco, asked a group of chief investment officers. The discussion took place at the London offices of Deloitte.

Andras Vig, multi-asset strategist at Invesco, said many of the traditional warning signs suggested that inflation was about to increase. If it does then it would be a “long threat” that hits “most financial assets,” he said, although they react differently.

For example, equ...