Ruffer managers Hamish Baillie and Steve Russell have made a number of notable changes to their portfolio as they position for the rest of 2014 following a difficult first quarter.
Though known for their defensive positioning, managers Baillie and Russell (pictured) said in February they had already moved out of some "expensive defensives" and into cheaper cyclicals, and this trend continued in March as the pair sold down gold positions.
In two of their largest sales of the first quarter, the managers sold £4m worth of Gold Bullion Securities, and £4.1m worth of their shares in Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold.
Though some of those sales may have taken place before March, Gold Bullion Securities - a 2.9% position in the trust as of 28 February - no longer appears in the portfolio's top ten holdings.
That is despite the gold price having seen a slight uptick this year: the managers said the asset class served the portfolio well in the first two months of 2014 "after a torrid time last year".
Other major sales over the quarter included a £5m holding in Japanese chemical and cosmetics firm Kao and a £4.2m stake in Fresenius Medical Care.
By contrast, Baillie and Russell have been buying up shares in both BP and Lloyds Banking Group. The former is now the portfolio's largest equity holding, at 3.1% of the fund as of 31 March, while the latter represents a rare foray into the banking sector for the trust.
The managers had praised BP in their February report, arguing oil firms will prioritise cost discipline and shareholder returns over excessive capital spending. They have bought £3m worth of shares so far this year.
Other top purchases included a £4.7m stake in Japanese financial services firm Orix, £4m-worth of shares in US conglomerate Leucadia National and a £3.2m stake in Lloyds.
But while a degree of cyclicality has been introduced to the portfolio, Baillie and Russell have also upped their cash weighting in recent weeks.
Their cash position rose from 5% at the end of February to 8.3% as of this Monday, according to the update.
They also switched some of their exposure to inflation-linked US treasuries over the quarter. They sold £4.9m of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) maturing in 2022, while buying £10.5m worth of notes maturing in 2043.
The trust failed to meet its objective return of 0.25% over the course of Q1, delivering an NAV loss of 2.3%, though it remains a long-term outperformer.
The top five holdings over the quarter continued to be gilts and US treasury bonds, while the trust also continued to hold a significant stake in the CF Ruffer Japanese Fund.
