Fluctuating fortunes of a fragmented sector

Specialist sector fragmented as component fund performances differ greatly, with gold and US dollar particularly hit by indiscriminate asset selling

The Specialist sector is effectively a collection of funds with little or no correlation, ranging from biotech funds to single country funds and natural resources vehicles. However, this is not to say the sector is not of interest. Within this mixed bag of funds are some of the most respected names in fund management - Graham Birch at BlackRock, Phillip Gibbs at Jupiter and JPMorgan's Ian Henderson, to name but three. Not all have had the easiest of rides over the past 12 months or so, but all have proven long-term track records. Birch's BlackRock Gold & General fund is ranked first o...