Monthly Investment Report June 2022

RNS Number : 4806S

Ruffer Investment Company Limited

14 July 2022

 

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 June 2022.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4806S_1-2022-7-14.pdf

During June, the fund price fell by 6.8%. Net asset value fell by 2.1%. This compared to the FTSE All-Share TR which fell by 6.0%

June began calmly, as markets (like us) mooted the idea that the worst of the inflation and interest rate damage might be past. The CPI inflation release on June 10 put paid to any such thinking, catalysing a sharp selloff in both bond and equity markets as global central banks accelerated their interest rate hikes. On a global basis nothing escaped the selloff: no major asset class delivered a positive return in the month, with the exception of Chinese equities. The last time this happened was in March 2020 in the depths of the covid crisis.

June's inflation release closed the window for a potential equity market rally by shifting the moment of peak inflation later into the year. We have high conviction that the triple tightening being executed by the Federal Reserve is likely to prove exceptionally damaging to financial markets over the next few months, meaning there will not be time for the peak inflation thesis to prove itself before markets or the economy crack under the tightening pressure.

We reflect this with the lowest weight to equities (25%) for the Ruffer strategy since March 2003. This is accompanied by a full suite of derivative protections. There are times in the market cycle that just need to be got through and we have to accept some volatility in the returns. Our preoccupation remains in avoiding a permanent and significant loss of capital.

Looking at June in isolation this extreme defensiveness was not enough. The only large positive contribution (+1%) came from the credit protections (these express a bearish view on corporate bonds) and the protective options (these express a bearish view on equity markets and interest rates), showing once again the importance of unconventional assets. Equities detracted around 2.5% from performance, with the allocation to Alibaba the only bright spot. Gold exposure and inflation-linked bonds accounted for most of the remaining negative performance.

In an episode of surprising and persistently high inflation, no allocation to risk escapes repricing. This has become clear to public market investors this year and will become clear to private market investors when their asset managers deign to reprice their private assets accurately (our bet: 2025). An allocation to cash is an underrated decision in such an environment because it offers the certainty of a slow loss. We have talked previously about putting the portfolio into a 'crouched' position - we are now unequivocally flat on the ground as bullets whizz overhead.

Enquiries:

Sanne Fund Services (Guernsey) Limited

Jamie Dodd

DDI: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

 

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