Stewart blames US downgrade and gold stocks for dip in form

£4bn Newton Real Return suffers short-term performance dip on misjudged currency bets.

Newton’s Iain Stewart has blamed bets on gold miners and the euro for a period of “disappointing” performance from his £4bn Real Return fund. The fund has returned more than double the Absolute Return sector average over three years, but Stewart said he is disappointed with the portfolio’s short-term returns. “We have been trying to build an array of protective positions that would help us when risk assets fall and volatility spikes, but this time around we did have some disappointment on how they have worked,” Stewart said. The manager said a significant exposure to gold mining eq...