Investec’s Mundy buys physical gold for first time after sell-off

值得留意, 基金在股市炒高出貨轉買實金 !

www.investmentweek.co.uk

Mundy (pictured), who has been reducing his exposure to equities after a variety of indices hit record highs, said he has put 5% of his portfolio into physical gold in the last few weeks, after the precious metal fell in price by more than 25%.
From a peak of $1,796 last October, gold fell to a low of $1,322 last month, before rebounding some way. It currently trades around $1,450.
“We felt, with Japan announcing more stimulus, investors would get more bearish,” he said. “For us, gold is also a good diversifier for the fund as it is a hard currency replacement.
“It is also in reasonably finite supply, which contrasts nicely to paper money. The chances are, in the face of all this money printing, gold’s allure will increase significantly.”
Mundy said all the major currencies could see a period of weakness when the ongoing eurozone crisis once more takes centre stage; an event he expects would boost the gold price.
He added: “We think the euro, dollar and sterling could all be vulnerable, and it is good to have exposure to an asset class which has performed well when sentiment is poor.
“If investors panic again, gold could go to new highs.”
Mundy already held 5% of the Cautious Managed fund in gold shares, but these have fared very differently to physical gold in recent years and have recorded big losses.
The manager said investors still holding gold equities need to hold their nerve and should not sell out at this stage.
“They have done shockingly badly operationally, but many of them do now have new managements, and you are in danger of panicking if you sell here,” he said.
“If we are correct in our belief gold miners are cheap – an argument supported by their low valuations relative to their history, and relative to the price of gold – then holding both may be of benefit.”
As part of a more defensive stance, Mundy is also running a multi-year high weighting of 30% in cash and liquid government bonds.
He said many shares have appreciated a lot in the past few months, and as a result he is building up exposure to other assets.
“We are finding it progressively harder to find cheap shares,” he said.
“As a result, cash in the Cautious fund is at a multi-year high as, around the world, shares generally look pretty expensive now.”
Despite a tougher 12-month spell for the Cautious Managed fund, which has seen it match the IMA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares sector average of 10.8%, over the long term it remains one of the best Cautious funds in the market.
Over five years it has returned 49%, double the sector average of 25.3%, according to Morningstar.