Castlestone launches precious metals equity fund

Castlestone Management has launched a gold and precious metals equities fund for CEO Angus Murray.

The Aliquot Gold and Precious Metals Equities fund will allocate to up to eight precious metal equity funds with the aim of limiting single manager risk and adhering to a wider allocation approach.

The portfolio’s holdings are diversified across multiple regions, small- to large-cap companies and investment styles. It can also invest in physical gold bullion to hedge against the effects of macroeconomic and geopolitical events.

Murray says: “Our strategy for the fund uses a greater number of managers than a similar fund might allocate to, primarily because many IFAs and their clients want to be linked to the general performance of an asset class rather than the managers.”

Castlestone’s investment committee, headed by Murray, will manage the fund which is benchmarked against the FTSE Gold Mines index.

The committee currently oversees the group’s two physical precious metals funds, Aliquot Gold Bullion and Aliquot Precious Metals.

Murray says: “Castlestone sees the potential for precious metals to be one of the stronger asset classes over the next 10 years as the risk of inflation and geopolitical tensions persist.

"An equity fund like this should accompany, rather than replace, an allocation to physical precious metals to maximise the possible areas of return resulting from this growth."

In addition to equities and physical metals, the fund can also invest in unit trusts, derivatives, swaps, forwards and ETFs. Currently, the portfolio is split amongst three gold and precious metals equity funds, but will be expanded in the coming months to include more equity funds and individual equities, the group says.

Minimum investment for intermediary share classes is $10,000. A sterling share classes may be added in the near future, the group says. The fund is weekly traded and domiciled in the British Virgin Islands.