Incrementum gold fund manager Ronald-Peter Stöferle sees opportunities in mining equities following gold’s retreat, although his active gold strategy retains almost 40% of its holdings in cash. Speaking to The Northern Miner at Mining Forum Americas in Colorado Springs late last month, the Liechtenstein-based manager outlined a cautious investment position alongside a more favourable assessment of conditions among gold producers.
Stöferle said the strategy’s investment signal had shifted to a defensive stance earlier this year. That positioning remains an important qualification to his view that mining shares now offer bargains: his assessment of equity opportunities sits alongside a sizeable allocation to cash. The Northern Miner reported both aspects of his approach, rather than describing a wholesale move back into the sector following the gold price pullback.
His conversations with mining executives at the event nevertheless gave him grounds for encouragement. According to The Northern Miner, Stöferle was reassured by the restraint executives showed towards acquisitions and new projects. He took that as a sign that producers were keeping expenditure under control even as their earnings increased. His favourable assessment therefore centred on management behaviour and capital discipline, not simply on the opportunity to buy shares after gold’s decline.
That judgement was qualified rather than unconditional. In his interview with the publication’s Western Editor, Henry Lazenby, Stöferle acknowledged that miners could still make mistakes later in the cycle, while characterising the current period as particularly favourable. He also identified an opportunity for producers to reach investors who have previously paid little attention to mining. Investors with broader mandates were gradually becoming more receptive to gold exposure, he said, a development that could expand the pool of investment capital available to the sector.