CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income (CYN) has followed Golden Prospect Precious Metals (GPM) and Geiger Counter (GCL) in serving protective notice against its investment manager Manulife CQS after the resignations last month of Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd.

CYN, at £126m the largest of the three investment companies run by the mining specialists, has agreed six months’ notice with Manulife CQS, half the contractual period that £68m GPM and £91m uranium fund GCL have to follow.

“If formal notice of termination is served by the company prior to 30 June 2026, the six months’ notice period, as per the investment management agreement, will be deemed to have started on 13 March 2026,” CYN said.

The company said it was considering several options at its disposal and revealed that Toronto-based Manulife mining fund managers Diana Racanelli and Craig Bethune had been appointed to work with Watson and Crayfourd while they work out their three-month notice periods. 

“Taking this action is in the best interests of shareholders as the company continues to explore its options for the long term,” CYN said, promising a further update in due course.

Racanelli and Bethune have been with Manulife for 12 years and together run US$415m in metals, mining and energy assets with a further USD1.2bn in team-managed assets.

All three closed-end funds have been strong performers during the commodities boom of the past year but have slumped in response to news of the managers’ impending departure and the US and Israeli war against Iran. In the past month their shares have tumbled 22%-27% with CYN currently standing 11% below net asset value and GPM and GCL trading on 19% and 10% discounts respectively.

Our view

Matthew Read, senior analyst at QuotedData, said: “It is not surprising to see the board of CQS Natural Resources serve protective notice on the trust’s manager, following similar moves by Geiger Counter and Golden Prospect Precious Metals after the resignations of Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd. As we have previously noted, these departures come at a time when both CYN and GPM have delivered very strong performance, driven by a surge in precious metals prices amid higher inflation and elevated uncertainty. In that context, it is understandable that boards will want to keep their options open.”

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