A fund operated by the multi-billion dollar investment firm Ruffer has bought bitcoin
Multi-billion dollar management firm Ruffer said Tuesday that one of its funds has bought bitcoin.
The Guernsey-based firm, which according to its website had £20.3 billion in assets under management (AUM) has of November 30, disclosed the purchase in a notice published by the London Stock Exchange on December 15.
“One recent addition, via one of the specialist managers appointed within the Ruffer Multi-Strategies Fund, has been bitcoin. This is primarily a defensive move, one made in November after reducing the company’s exposure to gold,” the firm said, going on to explain:
“The exposure to bitcoin is currently equivalent to around 2.5% of the portfolio. We see this as a small but potent insurance policy against the continuing devaluation of the world’s major currencies. Bitcoin diversifies the company’s (much larger) investments in gold and inflation-linked bonds, and acts as a hedge to some of the monetary and market risks that we see.”
It’s not currently clear how much bitcoin the firm purchased, but some back-of-the-napkin math offers clues about the size of the “small but potent insurance policy” referenced.
An LSE filing from February indicates that the Ruffer Illiquid Multi Strategies Fund 2015 held roughly £55.4 million ($74.4 million) as of December 31.
An interim filing from The International Stock Exchange (TISE) and published December 14 (covering the period as of September 30) indicates that Ruffer Illiquid Multi Strategies Fund 2015 Limited has a total of £1.13 billion invested, or about $1.5 billion. Based on that figure, the Ruffer fund may have bought as much as $37.5 million in bitcoin.
Ruffer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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Author: Michael McSweeney
