Ruffer Investment confirms bitcoin purchase worth $744 million

The British investment company Ruffer Investment, in response to a query from journalist Zack Voell, confirmed that it holds bitcoin worth more than $740 million.

CONFIRMED: Ruffer holds over $740 million worth of bitcoin.

— Zack Voell (@zackvoell) December 16, 2020

The day before, in a shareholder letter, a firm with assets of $27 billion announced the allocation of 2.5% of its portfolio to bitcoin as a hedge against the devaluation of world currencies.

“Bitcoin diversifies Ruffer’s portfolio holdings in gold and inflation-linked bonds and acts as a hedge against certain risks we see in a fragile monetary system and distorted financial markets,” the statement said.

Voell cited an email from Ruffer Investment in which the company confirmed that its bitcoin position amounts to £550 million (~$743.7 million) or 2.7% of assets under management.

The earlier wording in the memo allowed the possibility of using 2.5% of funds in one of the firm’s funds. According to Voell, the company clarified that this referred to the aggregate assets under management.

The firm manages assets worth £20.3 billion (~$27.3 billion). Ruffer’s market capitalization stands at £445.6 million (~$600 million), and net asset value is £461.1 million (~$620 million).

Ambiguous wording in Ruffer’s initial shareholder memo referred to a 2.5% allocation by “the portfolio”. But now Ruffer clarified “the portfolio” is its entire AUM, not just an allocation by the multi-strategy fund.

— Zack Voell (@zackvoell) December 16, 2020

Earlier, MassMutual, the American insurer managing assets of $235 billion, invested $100 million in bitcoin.

Earlier, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts suggested that pension funds and large investors would follow the American firm’s example. This could push bitcoin to as much as $600 billion.

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