First Eagle’s $59 Billion Fund Rides Rally With Stocks and Gold

First Eagle Investments’ $59 billion global fund maneuvered through April’s plunging markets by selling gold and using the proceeds to buy freshly discounted stocks.

The rebalancing trade helped the portfolio ride the rebound in equities and boosting its returns to almost 10% this year, giving it elite status among similar funds this year. Matthew McLennan of the First Eagle Global Fund is still bullish on gold, but trimmed the position to prevent the fund from becoming overly concentrated.

Matthew McLennan

Source: First Eagle Investments

“What we’ve found over time is that the combination of some gold, but mostly equities, can provide a satisfactory real return, ...