The World Gold Fund, co-managed by Evy Hambro, has outperformed its benchmark index in nine of the last 10 years.
It invests in natural resources equities and held almost $6.9bn of ssets at the end of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Luxembourg-listed shares rose from $5.82 at the end of 2000 to $52.27 on Friday.
Birch also managed or co-managed BlackRock’s World Mining Trust, Agriculture Hedge Fund and Natural Resources Hedge Fund. He began his career as a mining equity analyst with Panmure Gordon in 1984, with similar roles at Kleinwort Benson Securities and Ord Minnett.