Believe it or not, this fund returned 12.6% in the first two months of the year (versus 3% for the MSCI World index). Here’s a look at how it managed to achieve this.

A high-conviction fund

Blue Whale Growth’s a global equity fund run by London-based portfolio manager Stephen Yiu. It’s a high-conviction, ‘concentrated’ fund meaning that it only invests in a small number of stocks (Yiu’s best ideas).

Where this fund has had a lot of success recently is in the chip space. Names in the portfolio here include the likes of Nvidia, Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, SK Hynix, and Lam Research.

These stocks are all benefitting from the global artificial intelligence (AI ) infrastructure boom. With companies like Amazon and Google spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure (the hyperscalers plan to spend over $650bn this year), the chip companies are seeing huge revenue growth.

Another company in the portfolio that’s benefitting from AI spending is Vertiv. It makes cooling equipment for data centres.

A winning gold stock

It’s not just chip/AI stocks that are driving performance at Blue Whale right now however. Yiu’s also playing a few other themes. One is the rise in gold prices. Here, he owns Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) – the largest gold producer in the world.

This stock’s on fire at the moment (up about 16% this year and 165% over the last 12 months). And it isn’t hard to see why.

In 2025, Newmont produced 5.9m ounces of gold. The cost to produce this bullion was just $1,358 per ounce (versus a gold price of around $5,100 today).

As a result of the gap between operating costs and gold prices, the company’s minting money at the moment, with adjusted net income for 2025 coming in at $7.6bn versus $3.9bn for 2024. Zooming in on cash flow, this was an all-time annual record $7.3bn in 2025, up around 150% year on year.

It’s worth noting that Newmont stock still looks pretty cheap today (it has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 13), so it could be worthy of further research. There’s no guarantee that it will continue to soar though – if gold prices tumble, its share price could too.

Exceptional track record

I’ll point out that because Blue Whale’s concentrated (it only holds around 33 stocks), it’s higher risk than a broad global equity fund such as a global tracker. If Yiu gets his stock picks wrong, performance could be disappointing.

Investors also need to be aware of fees. Through Hargreaves Lansdown, ongoing fees are 0.84%, so it’s more expensive than a tracker fund.

I’m not complaining about the fees though as the fund’s performance justifies them. In the last three years, it’s returned more than 25% each year.

Given the track record, I believe it’s worth a closer look.

The post This red hot equity fund in my SIPP returned 12.6% in the first 2 months of 2026 appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Investors looking for opportunities need to think about what might be coming next. And the biggest issue at the moment is the potential debasement of the US dollar.

What is debasement?

Debasement happens when the policies of a government or central bank cause the value of its currency to fall. And investors are concerned about the US in this context.

Increasing government deficits, low interest rates, and – indirectly – tariffs are all potential debasement risks. And this is one of the biggest threats to the stock market right now.

Shares in publicly traded businesses are essentially claims on part of the company’s future earnings. But this is worth less over time if the value of the cash they generate goes down.

Given this, the risk of debasement is a threat to share prices in general. But real assets – and gold in particular – tend to be relatively attractive in these situations. 

Gold as a store of value

Unlike businesses, the value of gold isn’t tied to any cash flows – this is one of the reasons Warren Buffett doesn’t like it as an investment. But that isn’t always a bad thing.

In an environment where the (real) value of cash flows is going down, gold becomes more attractive by comparison. And this is what has been going on recently. 

In other words, it’s not that anything has fundamentally changed about gold. It’s that the world around it has changed in a way that has made it more valuable relative to other assets.

Source: LongtermTrends

Investors shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss the yellow metal – its returns over the last 30 years aren’t far behind the S&P 500 at all. But those wanting to cash in don’t just have to focus on physical gold.

A gold stock to consider

As an alternative, investors might consider shares in gold-producing companies. And Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) is probably one of the best businesses in the industry. 

Analysts expect profits to more than double by 2027. And operations in stable jurisdictions – such as the US, Canada, and Australia – mean the risk of political disruption is limited.

That stability, however, does come at a (literal) cost. Mining in these areas is typically more expensive and this means Newmont doesn’t have the lowest costs in the industry.

That’s a risk for a company that doesn’t control its pricing. But if the threat of debasement causes a sustained move to assets like gold, I think the firm should benefit in a big way.

Gold rush

A faltering gold price might make investors wonder whether the moment to consider buying shares in gold miners has passed. And there are reasons why the rally might run out of steam.

As I see it, though, the risk of debasement is still rising. So even with shares in Newmont now reflecting much higher expectations about gold prices, I think it’s still worth considering.

The post Looking to cash in on a volatile gold price? Here’s what investors need to know appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Some like Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) even have the potential to soar in value over the short term (and even beyond). Here’s why I think the gold miner’s worth serious consideration right now.

Dividend boost

Investing in gold mining stocks remains an attractive proposition to consider. The yellow metal’s price surge continues and it struck new highs of above $3,230 an ounce just now. Conditions seem to be perfect for further substantial gains.

As the world’s largest gold company — metal reserves are a whopping 135.9m ounces — I believe Newmont Corporation could be one of the best stocks to buy to capitalise on this.

Owning gold stocks and price-tracking funds are the most popular ways that people gain metal exposure nowadays. But owning the companies that actually produce the precious metal has multiple advantages.

Gold itself doesn’t actually provide an income, unlike many mining shares that pay a dividend. Newmont’s one of these that provides cash rewards to shareholders. For 2025, its dividend yield is a solid 2%.

Strong performance

Gold stocks can also outperform gold if operational performance is strong. On this front, owning Newmont shares could have substantial advantages, given recent production news.

Gold production rose 9% in the fourth quarter, latest data showed, meaning total production of 5.9m ounces for the full year beat forecasts. All-in sustaining costs (AISCs) also dropped 1.5% in the quarter to $1,463 per ounce, well below the current price of gold.

All that said, even the best-run miners can sink in value due to factors outside of their control. Major base and precious metal-producing regions are often located in politically unstable places, creating substantial risks through possible potential unrest, regulatory changes or conflict.

This is one reason why Newmont’s one of my preferred sector picks. While it’s also vulnerable to such events, with assets spanning The Americas, Africa and Australasia, such problems can be better absorbed at group level.

An S&P 500 bargain?

The largest risk however, for any commodities-producing business is a sharp fall in the value of their product. In the case of gold, a sudden pick-up in risk appetite could see a wide scale dumping of the safe-haven metal.

But as I mentioned earlier, I think the landscape is ripe for gold (up 37% over the past year) to keep on soaring.

The trade spat between the US and China continues to intensify, posing a substantial threat to the global economy. Uncertainty over future trading relationship between the US and its other major trading nations also rumbles on during the 90-day tariff pause.

A gloomy outlook for the US dollar also bodes well for greenback-denominated assets like gold. The US dollar index fell below the critical level of 100 earlier today for the first time in years.

City analysts expect Newmont’s earnings to rise 18% in 2025. This leaves it trading on a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.9, suggesting it’s underpriced relative to predicted profits.

All things considered, I think investors should give the mining giant a close look.

The post Is this the best S&P 500 stock to consider buying in these volatile times? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Here, I’m going to highlight three gold stocks I believe are worth a closer look right now. I think these companies are likely to benefit from higher gold prices.

A gold giant

First up is Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM), which is listed in the US. The largest gold miner in the world, it has operations in North and South America, Australia and Africa.

Last year, Newmont produced 6m ounces of gold. And for 2023, it has given guidance of between 5.7m and 6.3m ounces. All-in sustaining costs (a widely-used cost metric across the gold mining industry) are expected to be between $1,150 and $1,250 per ounce this year. This means the company should do well while prices are above $2,000 per ounce.

It’s worth noting that in February, Newmont tried to acquire Australia’s largest gold producer Newcrest Mining for $17bn. The offer was rejected. However, the two companies are now reportedly engaged in talks to come to an agreement. If they can strike a deal, it would extend Newmont’s lead as the world’s largest producer.

Newmont shares currently have a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 23 and offer a prospective dividend yield of around 3.2%. I see both valuation and yield as relatively attractive, given the company’s size and scale.

Insider buying

The next stock I want to focus on is Centamin (LSE: CEY), which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It mainly operates in Egypt at the Sukari Gold Mine.

For 2023, Centamin said it expects to produce between 450,000 and 480,000 ounces of gold. All-in sustaining costs are expected to range $1,250-$1,400 per ounce of gold sold. These costs are well below current prices.

One thing that’s worth highlighting here is that both Centamin’s CEO and CFO have bought company stock in the last month. This is very encouraging. These kinds of top-level directors tend to have an excellent understanding of their companies’ prospects.

The forward-looking P/E ratio here is about 13, while the yield is near 4%. I see some value in the stock at those levels.

A cheap gold stock

Finally, in the small-cap space, I think Pan African Resources (LSE: PAF) looks interesting right now. It’s a gold miner with operations in South Africa.

For the year ending 30 June, Pan African Resources expects to produce 195,000-205,000 ounces of gold. It hasn’t provided all-in sustaining costs guidance for the year. However, for the six-month period to the end of 2022, costs were $1,291 per ounce – significantly below current prices.

One reason to be bullish here is that the stock currently has a very low valuation. At present, the forward-looking P/E ratio is just 5.5. At that valuation, I see room for share price appreciation.

Higher-risk shares

It’s worth pointing out that gold stocks are higher-risk investments. Gold mining is a complex business. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. As a result, gold stocks don’t always rise when prices of the commodity are climbing.

My advice to investors looking at gold stocks is to own plenty of other stocks as well for diversification.

The post 3 gold stocks to consider as prices of the yellow metal rise appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.