Blackfish says metals offer sanctuary from dollar exodus

By Rebekah Curtis

LONDON (Reuters) - Precious metals, miners and renewable energy will be top picks in Blackfish Capital's new Exodus fund, designed as a "lifeboat" for investors seeking sanctuary from the bite of a dog-eared dollar.

The global fund, due for launch on April 1 and inspired by its manager Toby Birch's book 'The Final Crash', taps areas of the market that benefit or are safest from a sliding dollar and an economic downturn.

Global financial markets, pummelled recently by U.S. recession fears and a declining dollar, have been rattled since last August by a credit crisis stemming from widespread defaults on poor-quality mortgages in the U.S.

The dollar has lost nearly 11 percent against the yen so far this year and 8 percent against the euro.

"The idea of calling it the Exodus is that I was trying to capture the mood or emotion of money flowing out of the dollar," said Birch, who aims to raise $100 million for the fund in its early stages.

"It has that kind of feeling of end of days, or Armageddon. And the paradox is that the biblical Armageddon is not the end of time, it's a new beginning," said the 41-year-old manager with "quite a religious upbringing".

Birch said precious metals should perform well as the dollar slides. As well as holding gold futures, the fund will hold names in the sector such as U.S. gold producer Harmony Gold Mining (HMY.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and Australia's Aquarius Platinum (AQP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research).

He said he favoured American companies in the areas of gold, oil and gas, as opposed to their European counterparts, because the dollar weakness afforded them cheaper overheads.