Trump rally hits Newton Real Return performance as safe havens suffer

Portfolio maintains longer-term outperformance

Iain Stewart, manager of the £9.7bn Newton Real Return fund, has said he will continue to position his portfolio in safe-haven assets, despite a short-term drop in performance resulting from his defensive positioning around the US election.

With FE figures indicating the Real Return fund has lost 6% over three months to 24 November, Stewart (pictured) said the fund was particuarly hit in the wake of Donald Trump's victory. According to Stewart, the price of safe-haven assets fell as President-Elect Trump's policies tend to favour cyclical areas of the market. Currently, 29.4% of the Real Return portfolio is allocated to government bonds while 9.6% is held in cash. Stewart said: "The Real Return strategy has seen its short-term returns impacted in the wake of the US election result largely as a result of falls in the pric...