Old Mutual-JPM Natural Resources Fund reaps rewards of metals rebound

New York

WHEN shares of mining companies - including Freeport-McMoRan Inc to Glencore plc - were collapsing last year, a small fund run by JPMorgan Asset Management chose to hold on. Now, it is reaping the rewards of a metals rebound that is turning bears into bulls.

Old Mutual-JPM Natural Resources Fund has delivered a return of 79 per cent this year, beating all but two of the 150 funds that it competes with in North America and Western Europe that are tracked by Bloomberg. Glencore, one of its biggest holdings, has tripled after plunging 70 per cent in 2015. Freeport lost about as much last year, only to double in 2016.