How Ruffer can protect – and grow – your capital  | Ruffer LLP

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Ruffer provides investment management services for institutions, pension funds, charities, financial planners and individual investors.

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Ruffer LLP
80 Victoria Street
London SW1E 5JL

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75008 Paris, France

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Ruffer LLC
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Ruffer LLP
31 Charlotte Square
Edinburgh EH2 4ET

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Sam Benstead

Communications Manager

3 December 2025

With the return of inflation ripping up the asset allocation rule book, investors need a new approach to protect their wealth – while keeping their eyes open to growth opportunities.

Unlike most investment strategies – which seek to maximise returns at any given point in the market cycle – the Ruffer Investment Company’s primary aim is to avoid major market drawdowns and defend against the risk of losing capital.

By putting safety first, our investment trust seeks to deliver consistent performance that can build the value of your investment over the long term.

In our view, we are living through a period of ‘regime change’, characterised by higher and more volatile inflation, elevated geopolitical tension and an unsustainable rise in government borrowing. We believe this uproots the negative equity/bond correlation, meaning that bonds no longer act as a reliable diversifier when equity markets fall.

We now see 2% as the floor for inflation, rather than the ceiling. Deglobalisation, ageing populations and rising fiscal deficits are the key culprits. In this type of environment, most bonds lose their protective powers.

The turning point was 2022. Bonds fell as interest rates rose, exposing the fragility of portfolios reliant on established assumptions about how fixed income would behave when equity markets were falling.

As this regime change evolves, there is a greater need for genuine diversifiers, with an overarching focus on flexible, dynamic active management.

In addition, the US dollar used to offer foreign holders of US assets valuable hedging properties – when markets fell, the dollar tended to rise. But given the unpredictability of Trump 2.0, the US dollar may now be a less reliable source of protection for investors. In this new world, investors need a fresh playbook to diversify portfolios.

While concerns about inflation and doubts over US exceptionalism are widely discussed, investor portfolios remain largely unadjusted. This matters as the new regime could act as a wrecking ball to portfolios built on outdated market assumptions, particularly those which passively own stocks and bonds, and often stick to fixed allocation rules.

As this regime change evolves, there is a greater need for genuine diversifiers, with an overarching focus on flexible, dynamic active management. We achieve this by holding assets to protect against market risks – such as derivatives, which can generate a return if volatility jumps or markets nose dive.

Many clients hold Ruffer alongside a more conventional portfolio of equities and bonds, relying on the Ruffer segment to zig when markets zag.

These diversifiers mean the Ruffer Investment Company can thrive in a wide range of market conditions, such as we have seen in 2025: more challenging conditions in March and April when investors panicked about tariffs and then a renewed rally in US tech in the third quarter.

They are complemented by our liquidity positions, such as cash and short-dated bonds, which can be used to buy cheap assets during or after a crisis.

Many clients hold Ruffer alongside a more conventional portfolio of equities and bonds, relying on the Ruffer segment to zig when markets zag.

But Ruffer is about more than just protection. We also own growth assets. Three equity themes we have held this year have delivered. In each case, we identified a market that was unloved by others but had potential to grow.

First, gold miners – long ignored by investors – have surged this year. While we have been taking profits, we still like the sector as gold is traditionally a strong defence against inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.

Second, Chinese shares have returned from the wilderness, as a positive regulatory environment and AI breakthroughs increasingly catch the market’s attention.

Third, UK shares are relatively cheap, and markets are focusing on government debt while largely ignoring strong private sector balance sheets.

Over more than three decades, the Ruffer approach has sought to protect and grow client’s capital – and we have been successful in achieving our aims in the four major market crises since our inception.

This makes the Ruffer Investment Company a genuinely differentiated portfolio solution, helping keep you invested, whatever the weather.

Sam Benstead

Communications Manager

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Piers Wheeler

Director – Institutional

T +44 (0)20 7963 8258

Developing and executing asset management strategy for capital raising and strategic relationship management. Coverage includes EMEA, Asia and Australia. Piers joined Ruffer in 2021, having previously worked with asset management firms including Eastspring, AMP Capital and LEK as a strategic consultant. He holds a MA from the Bayes Business School and a BA (Hons) from the University of Oxford.

Annabel Paterson

Senior Associate – Institutional

T +44 (0)20 7963 8123

Joined Ruffer in 2021, having graduated with a first class honours degree in land economics from the University of Cambridge. After two years working with the UK Private Wealth team and completing her IMC and CFA Level I qualifications, she now supports Ruffer’s global business development and client servicing efforts.

Articles by Annabel

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How Ruffer can protect – and grow – your capital

How Ruffer can protect – and grow – your capital 