Natural resources are back in focus as geopolitical tensions, supply disruptions and long‑term structural shifts reshape global markets. In this interview, George Cheverly, Portfolio Manager and Metals & Mining Specialist at Ninety One, shares his perspective on the natural resources universe and discusses how the United Global Resources Fund is positioned. The conversation is hosted by Dharmo Soejanto, Head of Investment Solutions at UOB Asset Management.
Transcript
What does the natural resources sector include?
Dharmo Soejanto: Hi George, could you give us an overview of the natural resources market? What industries fall under this space?
George Cheverly: It’s quite a broad universe, but really the main categories include energy companies, mining companies, both bulk and base metals, precious metals, and also agricultural companies. These could be fertiliser, seeds, proteins or even equipment.
Why invest in resource equities?
Dharmo Soejanto: Why should investors allocate to natural resources?
George Cheverly: Natural resources are a good diversifier for portfolios, particularly because they're actually quite unrepresented in the major indices, like MSCI World. Energy and materials make up around 5 percent of those indices, but they can be major drivers of returns1.
As such, we always advise investors to add specialist funds like us, because it gives them diversification and also a very different performance signature. The final thing is, if you're worried about inflation and economic uncertainty, resource equities have historically provided very good protection against these concerns.
How much exposure should investors consider?
Dharmo Soejanto: And in general, is there a guideline of how much this allocation should be?
George Cheverly: It depends on people's portfolios and their tolerance to risk, because [natural resources] can be a volatile sector. But we would say a holding of around 5 to 10 percent within a portfolio is quite manageable and should be able to generate diversification and decent returns2.
The United Global Resources Fund
Dharmo Soejanto: George, can you walk us through the United Global Resources Fund (the “Fund”)? What is the Fund’s strategy, and how is the portfolio currently positioned?
George Cheverly3: The Fund likes to keep quite a diverse strategy, but we also like to mainly invest in large and mid‑cap companies, where there is liquidity and we get exposure to spot prices. So, these are producing companies, not exploration ones.
Currently, with the events in the Gulf, we've actually moved to an overweight on energy, because we believe whatever happens, oil prices are likely to remain higher going forward. But also, we've added in the fertiliser space, because supplies will be disrupted by the closure of the Gulf. It's a major producing region for a number of fertilisers, Iran itself, plus other Gulf states.
We also have moved to overweight aluminum, because around 7 percent of the world's supply is currently in the Gulf, and gas is being restricted due to threat of attacks, and aluminum imports can't come in. They're raw material, and this means that smelters very soon – some already have – will have to start shutting down.
Finally, we remain overweight in the precious metal space because of all these uncertainty and geopolitical risks, as well as the US midterm election coming up later this year.
What is the outlook for energy markets?
Dharmo Soejanto: What’s our outlook for energy market in 2026? And how might that shape opportunities in the Fund?
George Cheverly: The situation remains uncertain. We have to see how long the Strait of Hormuz remains shut because if it continues for any length of time, we're going to see a major disruption to energy prices.
Even if things settle down and the Strait reopens, though, we were seeing the energy markets rebalancing. They'd been in oversupply. We were expecting them to rebalance through this year and into 2027. We think that's been brought forward, whatever happens, and we think the risk is now that even if this is resolved, we'll see oil prices at higher levels than we would have expected.
So, what I mean is, I think we could easily be US$804 or above in the next few years, because whatever happens, both governments and companies will want to restock and strategically increase their stockpiles of oil.
What long‑term themes are shaping natural resources?
Dharmo Soejanto: Beyond what's happening in the Gulf today, what are some of the major structural themes that you're watching in the natural resources space?
George Cheverly: Energy transition and electrification remain key themes in this space. Obviously, the speed of that does change, and it has not happened as fast as some would hope, but it's still a major driving force.
We're seeing huge amounts of capital invested in electrification, most recently in data centres, and the power that's needed for them in the United States. And that's going to lead to good demand for many metals, as well as gas in the US to power those generators and power stations.
So this continues to be a key theme, which is going to drive resources markets for not just the next two or three years, but at least a decade or more.
1Source: Ninety One, as of 12 March 2026
2Source: Ninety One, as of 12 March 2026. Past performance is not indicative of future performance
3Views on fund allocation and strategy expressed as of 12 March 2026
4Oil price views as of 12 March 2026
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