Ruffer Investment Company Limited (LON:RICA) has released its Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2026 and a copy is available via the below link:
Summary
NAV TR over the twelve months to 30 June 2026 was 4.6%.
The discount of the share price to NAV narrowed to 2.6% at 30 June 2026, resulting in a slightly higher Share Price TR of 5.5% over the same period.
The Company has declared a second interim dividend of 3.32p for the six months to 30 June 2026.
The Company’s performance therefore met the Company’s aim to generate consistent positive returns, however financial markets are performing. Nonetheless, returns over 12 months fell short of the Company’s objective of twice the Bank of England base rate. The Board carefully evaluates the performance of Ruffer LLP over various time periods. RICL’s performance has exceeded its objective over ten and 20 years, but fallen short over one, three and five years. Over the entire 22 years since inception to 30 June 2026, the Company has delivered an annualised NAV TR of 6.7%, exceeding the objective of twice the Bank of England base rate, which averaged 4.1% for the same period. This has been achieved with lower volatility than equities and bonds.
A key action has been managing the discount and premium of the share price to NAV via share buybacks/issuance and the enhanced marketing strategy. Further progress was made during the year to maintain credible discount control. The average discount of the share price to NAV reduced from 4.6% in the 12 months to 30 June 2025 to 2.4% in the year to 30 June 2026. The proportion of the time that RICL shares have traded at a discount to NAV of wider than 5% has dramatically reduced over the past two years. The Board believes that this focus on discount control is an important tenet for a company which has the aim of capital preservation.
A second key action has been a review of the management fee with Ruffer LLP. From 1 January 2027, Ruffer LLP will receive a management fee of 1% of the lower of the Company’s market capitalisation and its net assets, replacing the current annual management fee of 1% of net assets. The revised structure creates greater alignment between the Company and the Investment Manager.
| Financial highlights | 30 June 26 | 30 June 25 |
| Share price | 293.50p | 284.00p |
| NAV as calculated on an IFRS basis1 | £889.09m | £888.20m |
| NAV as reported to the LSE | £889.90m | £891.59m |
| Market capitalisation | £865.72m | £858.18m |
| Number of shares in issue | 294.96m | 302.18m |
| NAV per share as calculated on an IFRS basis1 | 301.42p | 293.93p |
| NAV per share as reported to the LSE | 301.70p | 295.06p |
| Key performance indicators | 30 June 26 % | 30 June 25 % |
| Share price total return over 12 months2 | 5.5 | 7.3 |
| NAV total return per share over 12 months1,2 | 4.6 | 5.3 |
| Discount of traded share price to NAV1 | (2.6) | (3.4) |
| Dividend per share over 12 months3 | 6.20p | 5.95p |
| Annualised dividend yield4 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Annualised NAV total return per share since launch2 | 6.7 | 6.8 |
| Ongoing charges ratio | 1.086 | 1.074 |
This is the NAV/NAV per share as per the Company’s Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2026.
2 Assumes reinvestment of dividends.
3 Dividend declared and paid during the period.
4 Annualised dividend yield is calculated using share price at the year end and dividends declared and paid during the year.
Investment Manager’s Report
RICL’s positive performance in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 demonstrates Ruffer’s ability to deliver positive returns through varied market conditions by investing across a diversified set of assets. The Company delivered a NAV total return per share of 4.6%. Positive contributions from equities (+4.6%), gold and precious metals exposure (+3.9%), cash and short-dated bonds (+1.3%) and commodity exposure (+0.6%) more than offset the cost of credit and derivative strategies (-3.5%) and the yen (-2.0%). While these protective positions were not required for much of the period as risk assets advanced, they demonstrated their value during episodes of heightened volatility and remain potent sources of protection should market conditions deteriorate.
The Investment Manager’s report highlights the contrasting market conditions navigated during the year. Strong markets in the second half of 2025 broadened further into early 2026, benefiting the Company’s exposure to attractively valued equities in previously overlooked areas. The backdrop then became more volatile as concerns around AI investment, software valuations and private credit prompted a broader reassessment of risk, compounded by conflict in the Middle East. During this period, credit protection demonstrated sensitivity, while commodity exposure benefited from higher energy prices. The subsequent recovery in risk assets was more narrowly concentrated in a small number of companies to which the Company had limited exposure.
Against the current market backdrop, the portfolio is positioned for a variety of potential outcomes, in line with the Company’s all-weather approach. It maintains a diversified set of protections through credit and derivative strategies, the yen and selective forms of duration, leaving it well placed to respond to market weakness, whatever form it takes. The portfolio also retains dry powder in the form of short-dated government bonds and cash, which can be deployed as opportunities arise during periods of market volatility. At the same time, the Investment Manager continues to identify attractively valued growth opportunities in areas where expectations remain low and the potential upside is compelling, leaving the portfolio well placed to participate meaningfully if economic growth and market leadership broaden further. It also retains diversified exposure to commodities, commodity-related equities and precious metals, providing resilience against renewed inflation volatility and further geopolitical disruption.
Company Outlook
There is a clear historical relationship between starting real interest rates and subsequent real returns for equities and bonds. At today’s level, that relationship points to a real return for a typical 60:40 portfolio of 3.7% per annum. However, this is a central case, not a forecast. The path to that return is unlikely to be plain sailing. Volatility carries a cost – a sharp loss can take an outsized gain to recover, interrupting the compounding process that drives long-term returns.
The Bank of International Settlements’ (BIS) June 2026 annual report is a guide to the shifting tides. It flags four risks to the economic outlook: sticky post-shock inflation; an AI investment boom that could reverse if payoffs disappoint; financial vulnerabilities from stretched valuations and opaque AI-related leverage; and mounting fiscal pressure amid slowing growth – set against a market that seemingly is under-pricing these dangers. Arguably, narrow equity market leadership and signs of speculative excess might point to equity markets behaving as Graham’s ‘voting machine’ rather than weighing fundamentals. The BIS study of the impact of AI on growth and interest rates underscores how wide the uncertainty is stemming from just one factor, modelling outcomes ranging from a transformative AI scenario that lifts growth exponentially to a demand-bottleneck scenario where growth falls below trend as automation stalls and lost jobs mean lost consumers. This is a reminder, perhaps, to borrow Zhou Enlai’s famously cautious verdict that it is ‘too early to tell’ what AI means for markets.
Against this unusually broad range of possible futures, the Board continues to have confidence in Ruffer’s ‘all-weather’ strategy. Ruffer’s current preference for less crowded, better valued exposures positions the portfolio to benefit if AI-led growth broadens, whilst its resilience and valuation discipline provide protection should leadership narrow or expectations unwind.
