Hamish Baillie will leave Ruffer at the end of the month after more than two decades at the boutique.
A stock exchange announcement for the Ruffer Investment Company said Baillie (pictured) had decided to step down to “pursue other opportunities”.
Duncan MacInnes, who co-manages the £983.5m trust alongside him, will remain on the mandate.
Baillie joined Ruffer in 2002 and founded its Edinburgh office seven years later. In addition to being the lead manager on the Ruffer Investment Company, he ran portfolios for individuals, trusts, charities and pension funds.
“It has been a privilege to be a part of the firm over the last 20 years and to see the company grow while stewarding our investors through some turbulent times in financial markets,” Baillie said.
“I know I leave with the business in great shape and I will cherish fond memories of the time I have had at Ruffer. I look to the future with excitement both for me personally and for the prospects for Ruffer.”
Ruffer Investment Company chair Chris Russell said Baillie “leaves with our admiration and gratitude for all he has contributed”.
“With Duncan MacInnes and the wider Ruffer team, the investment stewardship of the company’s assets remains in very good hands,” he added.
Despite a volatile market backdrop, Ruffer Investment Company has retained its spot in the top quartile of the IT Flexible Investment sector over six months, returning 2.7% while the average closed-ended fund has lost 5.5%.
In May, the trust lagged its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share, by 0.6 percentage points, generating a measly net asset value return of 0.1%, thanks to its inflation-sensitive gold exposure and index-linked gilt holdings.
“Mr Market will make us crawl through fire for the gift of redemption, and derivative protection via the unconventional toolkit remains essential to navigate choppy and dangerous markets,” the managers said in the most recent update.
“Inflation-linked bonds are now back to pre-Brexit prices – and yet, in our assessment, the likelihood and proximity of the inflationary denouement is much greater. We believe they offer exceptional asymmetry and we have been buying.”
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