Monthly Investment Report May 2021

RNS Number : 9331A

Ruffer Investment Company Limited

07 June 2021

 

RUFFER INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED

(a closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with registration number 41996)

LEI 21380068AHZKY7MKNO47

Attached is a link to the Monthly Investment Report for May 2021.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9331A_1-2021-6-4.pdf

During May the Company's net asset value (NAV) appreciated by 2.6% as the share price rose by 3.9%. This compared with a rise of 1.1% in the FTSE All-Share total return index.

It was a month where the market dynamics were driven by inflation. The US saw the largest monthly jump in core CPI since 1981 and this pushed up inflation expectations. The result was a fall in the dollar and rising prices in many financial assets especially commodities such as copper and gold.

The portfolio was a beneficiary of this, with gold the largest contributor to returns (+0.7%). Bank shares were also a significant contributor (+0.5%), including a new holding in UniCredit (more detail below). May saw the unusual situation of both falling bond yields (so rising bond prices) and rising share prices of financials. This is an odd dynamic that likely reflects both a secular drive by investors to top up underweight positions in financials and a tempering of the strong rise in bond yields seen in the first quarter of 2021.

On the negative side of the ledger were the protective options (-0.1%), which declined as rates fell back and equity markets pushed on. The most spectacular fall in market prices was seen in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with bitcoin falling by around 35%. The Company's indirect exposure to bitcoin, bought in November, was sold down entirely in early April before the sell-off.

The bitcoin exposure was put into the portfolio as a defensive investment, to add diversification to our inflation hedges. Its strong rise thereafter reflected increased institutional and retail interest, and as it hit all-time highs in April we judged its asymmetry to be much lower (and importantly the threat to gold to be lower too). With more attractive risk-adjusted positions elsewhere in the market we sold the remaining exposure.

We have been adding to European equities. We believe Europe will soon receive the torch in the global economic growth relay that began with China powering ahead last year. The US is currently the fastest runner, something reflected in US equity outperformance, but as lockdowns end Europe is very much on the move and will soon take the torch from the US. This spurt of growth should see eurozone bond yields rise, a stronger euro and weaker dollar and strong performance from European financials. On top of this, the arrival of the fiscal cavalry in the shape of the European Recovery Fund should disproportionately benefit Italy. UniCredit is our preferred expression of this, with the tailwind of domestic banking consolidation an additional spur.

Enquiries:

Praxis Fund Services Limited

Gail Adams

DDI: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]  

 

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