The change, which comes into effect on 26 November, also reflects the intra group transfer of the authorised corporate director (ACD) from Marlborough to IFSL, while SIM refers to the appointed investment management company, which is Sector Investment Managers.
Over the past 18-month period, the portfolio weighting in silver mining companies has increased to 40% of the fund’s value, against a backdrop of growing industrial demand for the metal, which the manager said is “underpinned” by the global shift towards renewable energy, electrification of transportation and other technological developments that favour silver’s electric conductivity.
ECB policy changes will not affect gold relevance for European investors
Angelos Damaskos, chief executive of Sector Investment Managers (SIM), adviser and investment manager for the fund, said: “To maximise the potential of investing in precious metals miners we recognised the need to broaden the scope of our investments.
“While gold mining shares remain the biggest proportion of our overall portfolio, we have steadily been adding holdings in silver miners.”
The fund does not invest in either physical gold or silver bullion, and also avoids investing in politically unstable territories and very early stage exploration risks.
He added: “The current macro-economic situation, with rising inflation and historically low interest rates, is likely to result in an investor move to safe-haven assets such as gold and silver bullion. This will strengthen the appeal of all aspects of the gold and silver mining-to-market process.
“We invest in smaller, earlier stage operations, where we see most potential for growth, and these tend to perform better in a rising precious metals price environment, which boosts profitability.”