FundCalibre, an online fund ratings agency and research centre, held a media event in London this month, bringing together three fund managers focusing on global bonds, global equities, and precious metals. They shared their thoughts on the year ahead, reflecting on the themes shaping their portfolios.

At a media event in London this month, organised by FundCalibre, Georges Lequime, fund manager at Amati Global Investors, said that 2025 has been a fabulous year for gold and silver equities.

Lequime is a mine engineer, fund manager of the Amati Strategic Metals Fund, with mining investing and direct mining industry experience. After record-high prices for gold and silver this year, Lequime said it has been a very good year for gold and silver. Gold is seen as a safe haven, with drivers of the recent rise including concerns over tariff-induced inflation and a slowing US economy, steepening developed market bond yield curves and a weaker dollar.

There has also been rising demand for commodities such as silver, copper, and tin needed for artificial intelligence, tech and renewables. Silver, which is important for industrial demand for use in solar power and electronics, is easier to access than gold.

Lequime has been advocating for silver for two years now. “With increased demand and a sector starved of capital for decades, there is a shortage of supply. The silver market is very tight and it is a worrying situation,” he said. “People are talking about silver prices rising further and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.”

Carsten Menke, head next generation research, at Julius Baer also emphasised this week how silver prices are up 40 per cent since early November. Strong physical demand and regional shortages are cited as the main reasons, but the numbers tell a more nuanced story. The real surge in demand has happened in the Chinese futures market, suggesting that the rally is increasingly fuelled by speculative traders rather than physical shortages. While he generally still sees a favourable fundamental backdrop for silver, including slowing US growth, lower US interest rates, and a weaker US dollar, prices appear more and more detached from this backdrop. "That said, the market is momentum-driven, and the path of least resistance remains up as long as Chinese traders add more fuel to the fire," he said.

Copper, which is also important for the renewable energy transition, acting as an essential conductor in solar panels, wind turbines, energy storage and grid infrastructure, uses more copper than fossil fuel systems. Lequime said China dominates the metals sector, and is ahead on renewables, notably solar which uses silver. While China still relies on fossil fuels, it produces more than 80 per cent of all solar photovoltaic panels, half of the world’s leading electric vehicles and a third of its wind power. “Lithium, nickel and uranium have done well too,” Lequime added.

Edmund Shing, global chief investment officer at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, also recently stated his preference for gold as a safe haven as well as for silver, copper and tin needed for artificial intelligence, tech and renewables. See here.

At the event, Lequime emphasised that the WS Amati Strategic Metals Fund, launched in 2021, has been delivering top quartile performance and strong absolute returns for clients this year. Reflecting the evolution of the fund, Amati recently appointed Lequime to the Amati board.

“The Strategic Metals Fund managers have decades of mining investing and direct mining industry experience, and it is this depth of expertise combined with the wide-ranging remit to invest across all metals, and the focus on small and mid-sized mining companies, which we believe distinguishes the fund from others in the sector,” Amati CEO Dr Paul Jourdan said. “The critical importance of mining and strategic metals in the new geopolitical reality has become abundantly clear. This has created some powerful upward trends in metals prices, most notably in gold and silver during 2025, as well as a scramble for control of new rare earth mining projects outside of China, from which the fund has benefited.”

Gilts
Stephen Snowden, head of fixed income at Artemis Fund Managers, manager of the Artemis Short-Duration Strategic Bond and Artemis Corporate Bond, stated his preference for UK gilts at the event. The yield on 10-year government bonds, aka gilts, saw new highs this year and is still trading cheap. Snowden is optimistic that the trend will continue into 2026.

Others seem to agree. At a recent media event, Brown Shipley, part of Europe's Quintet Private Bank, said it favoured switching out of Japanese government bonds – profiting from their recent moves – and going into gilts. See more here.

However, David Zahn head of European fixed income at Franklin Templeton is not optimistic about the UK’s gilt market, saying it is too unpredictable.

Equities
Dr Ian Mortimer – co-manager of Guinness Global Equity Income Fund at London-headquartered Guinness Global Investors – noted investment opportunities in neglected sectors such as healthcare. “Healthcare was out of favour and is now coming back in again,” he said.

He is not alone in his views. Paris-based Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management also recently showed a preference for healthcare. Simon Skinner, head of the global investment team at Orbis Investments, and Kevin Thozet, member of the investment committee at Paris-based asset manager Carmignac, also see opportunities in healthcare.See more here and here.

The Guinness Global Equity Income Fund focuses on long-only equities, with 30 equally weighted stocks. It aims to invest in quality companies that can grow faster than the market over time, and which they believe can lead to outperformance over a cycle.