Ruffer Radio: Recent Episodes
Ruffer LLP
A series of podcasts exploring the investment universe and sharing our interpretation of what's going on.
Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments and the income derived therefrom can decrease as well as increase and you may not get back the full amount originally invested. Ruffer performance is shown after deduction of all fees and management charges, and on the basis of income being reinvested. The value of overseas investments will be influenced by the rate of exchange.
Ruffer performance to 31 Mar %: 2020: 5.6 | 2021: 23.3 | 2022: 5.6 | 2023: -0.5 | 2024: -5.7 ruffer.co.uk/performance
The views expressed in this podcast are not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any investment or financial instrument, including interests in any of Ruffer’s funds. The information contained in the podcast is fact based and does not constitute investment research, investment advice or a personal recommendation, and should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. References to specific securities are included for the purposes of illustration only and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities. This document does not take account of any potential investor’s investment objectives, particular needs or financial situation. This podcast reflects Ruffer’s opinions at the date of publication only, the opinions are subject to change without notice and Ruffer shall bear no responsibility for the opinions offered. More information: ruffer.co.uk/disclaimer
This financial promotion issued by Ruffer LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and is registered as an investment adviser with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. © Ruffer LLP 2023. Registered in England with partnership No OC305288. 80 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL. For US institutional investors: securities offered through Ruffer LLC, Member FINRA. Ruffer LLC is doing business as Ruffer North America LLC in New York. ruffer.co.uk
January 2025: Fund Manager, Steve Russell discusses the investment risks we see in 2025 – overvalued US markets, Trumps return to office, rising bond yields.
January 2025: In his latest Investment Review, Jonathan Ruffer sees parallels between today’s Magnificent Seven and the Nifty Fifty stocks of 1970s America. Pay too much for quality, and you’ve made a bad investment.
October 2024: For 30 years, Ruffer’s chief concern has been the preservation of clients’ money. In this quarter’s review, Jonathan Ruffer revisits the merits, and measures, of this aspiration in the context of today’s market environment.
September 2024: As the US presidential race enters its final straight, Dr Tim Smith and Alexander Chartres join Rory McIvor to discuss how investors are weighing up the prospects of a new administration.
July 2024: Recent portfolio performance has, understandably, provoked questions from our clients and investors. These are broadly the same questions we have been asking ourselves, chief among which is: why are we comfortable owning a portfolio that feels so uncomfortable to hold? Jonathan Ruffer’s quarterly investment review seeks to answer that question, laying out the reasons for our conviction in a portfolio which can protect and grow capital as the market turns.
April 2024: Duncan MacInnes joins Rory McIvor to reflect on Q1 performance and discuss some of the portfolio’s key positions including gold and silver, derivative protections and the yen.
April 2024: Jonathan Ruffer discusses the stock market’s seemingly invincible summer. This has created distortions in both debt and equity markets, and with them, opportunities to benefit from a change in the season.
January 2024: Can the economy and markets survive interest rates at 5%? Not for long, suggests fund manager Matt Smith – either interest rates must come down or asset prices do.
January 2024: After a difficult year for portfolio performance, Jonathan Ruffer looks ahead to a world which is curiously unfit for investment purpose, given the current condition of the equity market and the end of the decades-long bull market in bonds.
October 2023: In this quarter’s episode of Ruffer Radio, Chairman Jonathan Ruffer shares his perspectives on the evolution of Ruffer’s all-weather investment approach since founding the firm in 1994.
July 2023: Our defensive positioning in anticipation of a liquidation event has hurt portfolio performance so far this year. In his latest quarterly review, Jonathan Ruffer recalls similar testing periods before past market crises and explains why we think the liquidation event has only been postponed, not cancelled.
April 2023: After a strong start to the year, markets were destabilised by a shift in liquidity dynamics in March. Central banks now face a reckoning. Their choice is simple – inflation stability or financial stability – but it isn’t easy. Investment Director Jos North joins Rory McIvor to discuss how recent developments fit into Ruffer’s investment thinking and what is needed to protect investors’ capital at this critical juncture in markets.
January 2023: To get a sense of where we’re going in the inflationary journey, it helps to understand where we came from. Jonathan Ruffer’s quarterly review explores the root causes of this new economic landscape. He discusses why, in a regime of inflation volatility, no one investment allocation will be enough to steer portfolios through treacherous market waters.
January 2023: Of the many storylines to unfold in 2022, only one really mattered to investors – rising interest rates and falling asset prices. The chief protagonist in this tale – the Federal Reserve - conducted one of the fastest and steepest rate hiking cycles in financial history. But how much further do they need to go? Investment Manager, Fiona Ker discusses the unenviable choices facing central bankers and explains why monetary policy will continue to dominate the narrative in the next chapter in markets.
October 2022: In his latest quarterly review, Jonathan Ruffer reflects on the possibility of an imminent liquidity crisis in markets and looks at why even the safest assets might not prove very safe at all.
July 2022: Investment Director Duncan MacInnes joins Rory McIvor for a review of the quarter, discussing the scale of wealth destruction across markets and how they see this rippling out into real world behaviour, and looking forward to what could be on the horizon and what that means for investors.
June 2022: Avoiding major drawdowns in markets is key to outperforming over the long-term. It may sound obvious, but in a world of near universal asset vulnerability, it has seldom been more important to stand resolute against falling markets. In this episode, Lauren French and Andrew van Biljon discuss Ruffer's approach to protecting against tail risks in the market and they lift the lid on some of the more creative strategies in the portfolio today.
April 2022: We reflect on the events that have dominated markets over the past three months - including the major developments we’re all talking about. We also discuss one or two aspects which have received less attention, but may well be crucial for investors in the months ahead.
March 2022: Tim Kruger is the guest author in this year’s Ruffer Review. In this episode, we discuss his article which draws on his work in the field of carbon extraction and its role in the energy transition.
January 2022: Investment Director Matt Smith looks ahead to what investors can expect in 2022. We briefly review the investments which worked well in Ruffer portfolios last year (and those that didn’t) and assess the opportunities and challenges arising from the return of economic, market and inflation volatility.
October 2021: A brief round up where we look at how recent events impacted markets and Ruffer portfolios, and what investors have learned as we move into the fourth quarter.
July 2021: Inflation is back, but for how long? Bertie Dannatt joins Ruffer Radio to discuss how markets are digesting the return of inflation, and what rising prices mean for consumers and investors alike.
April 2021: Andrew van Biljon and Lauren French offer their insights into the world of behavioural economics. What do these theories say about us as decision makers? What are their shortcomings? Can behavioural science make us better investors?
February 2021: Bethany McLean joins us to discuss the tension between rational markets and emotional investors, what separates the visionary leader from the fraudster and how a bias to belief affects our decision-making.
January 2021: 2020 will loom large on financial markets for many years to come. As we cautiously make our way out of the crisis, Duncan MacInnes and Fiona Ker review the more startling developments of the last year, share their insights into the ongoing recovery and look ahead to some of key challenges facing investors in 2021.
October 2020: All elections are equal. But some elections are more equal than others. In the latest episode of Ruffer Radio, Dr Tim Smith and Alexander Chartres discuss the 2020 race to the White House and explore why this election, in the context of a broader shift in world order, may well be the most important for a generation.
July 2020: Alexander Chartres, Investment Director and resident geopolitics specialist, explores the shifting sands of world order. He discusses the deteriorating relationship between the US and China and considers the implications of a new world disorder – on companies, portfolios and our everyday lives.
April 2020: Duncan MacInnes discusses covid-19: how it has changed the investment landscape, the impact on the Ruffer portfolio and what could happen next.