Fantasy fund manager: big gains despite the geopolitical backdrop

Top portfolio returns

Still leading the pack after two months is presenter and podcaster Peter Higgins with a gain of 15.5%. That would be a healthy return for any full year but to see this level of growth after two months is remarkable, thanks almost entirely to his overweight position in commodities. 

Freelance journalist Moira O’Neill is only slightly behind, with portfolio returns of 12.3%. Moira’s holdings in precious metals and emerging markets are what’s driven her performance.

Daily Mail Group personal finance guru Jeff Prestridge has seen his portfolio rise by 10.4%, taking his notional £10,000 investment to £11,036 in just two months, while first-time investment trust investor Lynn Beattie aka financial influencer Mrs Mummypenny is performing more than respectably in fourth place. As with Moira, Lynn’s 6.4% return has been helped by some exceptional performance from her emerging markets exposure.

Unfortunately, Gavin Lumsden’s big bet on high-profile manager Nick Train has not yet paid off. Two of his fund choices linked to Train are down substantially this year. He is bringing up the rear with a portfolio return of 1.1%.

Top investment trusts 

There has been some outstanding performance from numerous individual trusts over the past month, despite what intuitively would seem to have been a difficult time for markets. Seraphim Space, the space tech trust, has had a stonking run, and saw its shares rise by 17.5% in February, following a 7.1% rise in January. Demand for its shares has been so high that they are now trading on a 12% premium to the value of their assets.

The next best performer was Augmentum Fintech, held by Gavin Lumsden, which saw its share price rise by 16.9%. However, that was due to an cash offer from a Verdane, a buyout specialist.

Both Peter Higgins’ commodities trusts performed extremely well: CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income was up 14.7% as commodity prices rose amid concerns about supply. Similarly, BlackRock World Mining was up 12.6%.

Also in double figures was Schroder Asian Total Return, held by Lynn Beattie, which gained 10.6%, while Golden Prospect Precious Metals, one of Moira O’Neill’s picks, was up by 9.60%.

With such a tumultuous geopolitical backdrop, more volatility is certain, so the leaderboard could change radically in the next few weeks. If you are invested during these difficult times, remember, keeping a calm head is vital. History suggests that markets make up any losses caused be political shocks within a year or two, and selling when markets fall as a knee-jerk reaction is almost always a mistake.

See how all this plays out for our fantasy portfolios when we report back again in April.