Gold funds leapt in March as precious metals took eight of the top 10 positions

Gold and precious metal funds swept performance tables in March, taking eight of the top ten positions throughout the month.

“There was only one story last month – gold,” said Ben Yearsley, director of Fairview Investing.

“With the price of an ounce rising almost 10 per cent in March, it’s no surprise seeing gold equities finally coming to the party.”

In total, gold prices have risen 23.3 per cent over the last six months.

The two other funds in the top ten were global value fund Price Value Portfolio, which rose 14.3 per cent, and mining fund Baker Steel Electrum, which grew 14.6 per cent

By sector, the commodities and natural resources funds performed best, returning 7.8 per cent throughout the month, followed by UK equity income at 4.4 per cent growth.

“After a strong FTSE showing last month with banks and insurance doing well alongside commodities, it isn’t much of a surprise seeing the UK equity income sector coming a creditable second,” Yearsley added.

However, every sector defined by the Investment Association saw growth in March, with the worst performer being the euro high yield bond sector, which grew 0.08 per cent.

Another interesting performer was the ‘property other’ category in fifth best, rising 3.8 per cent throughout the month. Despite this, the UK direct property sector was the third worst performer, rising only 0.4 per cent.

Oxeye Hedged Income was the worst performing fund of the month, but is still neutral on performance over the last year after rising 9.5 per cent in January as the top performer that month.

“This fund is either feast or famine and clearly not the fainthearted,” said Yearsley.

The rest of the poor performers were more varied, with Asia, European and UK funds all making their way into the worst performers.

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Yearsley also proclaimed that “risk is back in vogue” as the Baillie Gifford Schiehallion trust took the top spot among investment trusts, rising 38.7 per cent.

Other strong performers in the investment trust space included Digital 9 Infrastructure, after the fund overcame an antitrust roadblock to sell off its assets and shutter.