UK asset manager Ruffer to open New York office

UK asset supervisor Ruffer is opening its first workplace within the US, aiming to quickly broaden in an economic system it expects to face a recession and additional inventory market turbulence this yr.

Established three many years in the past, Ruffer has usually catered to personal purchasers, charities, household workplaces and establishments within the UK, Europe and Australia however has amassed virtually $1bn in property from US pensions, foundations and endowments.

The corporate, which is predicated only a few minutes’ stroll from Buckingham Palace and can open its US workplace in New York, is aiming to at the least quadruple the sum it manages for American purchasers over the subsequent few years.

Portfolio managers at Ruffer, which has greater than $30bn in property below administration, have held conferences with US establishments in current weeks to put out their technique, which anticipates that buyers will face a liquidity crunch as rates of interest stay excessive.

Consequently, Ruffer’s total portfolio has its lowest ever publicity to international equities at 14 per cent, because the agency anticipates shares will probably be among the many property buyers will rush to promote when monetary markets face new strains.

“If there’s a liquidity crunch, and other people can’t promote personal credit score or company bonds, they’ll promote equities,” mentioned Jenny Renton, funding director at Ruffer. She mentioned the agency anticipated a recession in a number of large economies this yr, together with the US.

Over the long term, Ruffer expects inflation to stay excessive and rates of interest to be extra unstable, Renton mentioned, stating that it held inflation-linked bonds and gold as a hedge. Nearly a 3rd of the UK asset supervisor’s portfolio is in inflation-linked bonds, together with US and UK authorities debt, in addition to gold.

The agency can be utilizing derivatives, together with credit score default swaps, as safety within the occasion monetary markets come below renewed strain from rates of interest. “We’re now utilizing funding methods [such as derivatives] for a liquidation occasion,” mentioned Renton.

Co-founded by multimillionaire Jonathan Ruffer, the agency made a profitable guess on bitcoin final yr, however Renton mentioned it was unlikely to spend money on cryptocurrencies once more any time quickly.

The enlargement into the US comes because the agency, which doesn’t cost efficiency charges, continues succession plans for the retirement of its founder. A current restructuring means the asset supervisor is run by its 56 companions, reasonably than its three co-founders — Jonathan Ruffer, Robert Shirley and Jane Tufnell.

In a press release Ruffer mentioned: “To assist long-term succession planning, Jonathan is handing management of the agency to its working companions. This helps safe Ruffer’s long-term future as an unbiased personal partnership.”