Global Basics returns to 'horrorshow' miners as Somel takes charge

Randeep Somel, the new manager of M&G's Global Basics, has revealed the fund is making new investments in miners again as he looks to position the portfolio for a new era.

French, who Investment Week revealed yesterday is to leave M&G after 25 years, had seen returns suffer in recent years as a result of Global Basics' exposure to commodity plays. Those positions have been scaled back over the past 18 months, but some miners remain in the fund and Somel, previously deputy manager on the portfolio, said the pair opened a new position in BHP Billiton at the start of this month. "Mining companies have been a horrorshow over the past three years, but we have gone back down the [economic development] curve and bought BHP Billiton," Somel told Investment Week...