John Hathaway: $1.3B fund manager: Silver is a barometer for resource interest and it’s registering ZERO

Rare Greek silver stater of Phaistos (Crete) by Ancient Medieval Arts & Numismatics on Flickr.

Tocqueville Gold Fund manager, John Hathaway is convinced the gold bottom is behind us simply because of the lack of people involved in the sector outside the core long term investors.

Silver is an excellent indicator of investor sentiment and its slow rise relative to gold shows the mainstream is still far from being on board. There is still a long way to run with the bull market, at least another 4 years.

The Tocqueville Fund does not take a position at less than $10 million, they have been investing for 20 years and now tend to invest with people they have made money with in the past. They are extremely careful who they invest with.

The main influence on the global markets is deflationary although government policy is inflationary, we are headed for a significant devaluation in paper currency and poor returns in the equity and bond markets.

There are a lot of scams and shady investments in the precious metals markets so professional advice from a fund manager such as Tocqueville, is a much better idea than going it alone.


Talking points from this week’s interview:

• Silver price is a measure of public interest
• Mainstream interest will be sparked above $1300
• The results of quantitative easing still to take effect
• Investing with a fund helps avoid scams and pitfalls

John Hathaway, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Tocqueville in 1997.  He co-manages the Tocqueville Gold Fund (TGLDX).   In addition, he manages separate accounts with a gold equity mandate including the Falcon Gold Fund, the Falcon Gold UCITS Fund, Tocqueville Gold Amerique (FCP), a sovereign wealth fund, and various separate accounts for family offices and government entities. Prior to joining Tocqueville, Mr. Hathaway co-founded and managed Hudson Capital Advisors followed by seven years with Oak Hall Advisors as the Chief Investment Officer in 1986. In 1976, he joined the investment advisory firm David J. Greene and Company, where he became a Partner. Mr. Hathaway began his investment career in 1970 as a research analyst with Spencer Trask & Co. Mr. Hathaway graduated from Harvard College in 1963 (B.A.) and from the University of Virginia Business School in 1967 (M.B.A).  He also holds the CFA designation.

BY COLLIN KETTELL