Speaking at a Brexit briefing in London on Monday, Coombs said the debate remains too close to call to be complacent as a fund manager and, as a result his portfolios are as liquid as possible.
As a result of this, he is invested he said, in gilts, US treasuries, megacap stocks and only the highest quality corporate bonds, from companies like Apple.
He also has 6% and 8% in cash in the Total Return and the Strategic Growth portfolios respectively.
“I want the powder to trade through these markets because it might be the only way I come out of this year with a positive return,” he said.
In the firm’s medium risk portfolio he also has a 25% exposure to the US dollar, which he agrees could be very painful if the UK votes to remain, but he added, should the UK vote to leave the EU it is likely that sterling will weaken significantly in the first 48 hours
“The risk of having the wrong stuff in the event of a leave vote is much higher than risk of missing out on the upside by holding the right stuff if we stay,” he said.
