Lord Rothschild, who linked arms with the Rockefeller dynasty in the US this week, showed today that even the biggest names in finance are struggling in these volatile markets.
Rothschild, who is worth an estimated £465 million, saw his RIT Capital investment trust lose £55.8 million in the year to March and struck a downbeat tone on global prospects.
The financier said: “The Western world may have finally woken up last year: it realised that the crash of 2008 was not just another market event, quickly to be recovered from.
“Recovery may come, but not in months. Unless one has a long horizon, investment success in public markets has become a game of timing rather than fundamentals.”
RIT, which manages £1.92 billion in funds, saw its net asset value per share slip 3.1% in the last year.
Rothschild today pointed to the trust’s strong track record since 1988, but added: “Over the past three years, as markets recovered from the crash of 2008 — we have barely level-pegged.”
Rothschild claimed some successes, including a £73 million profit on its stake in oil explorer Agora, and jacked up the dividend to reassure investors.
RIT took a 37% stake in Rockefeller Financial Services this week.
