In 2008 Ruffer LLP confounded analysts and commentators when its core investment strategy generated a return of around 20 percent for the year, against a background of crashing markets worldwide.

Twelve years later Ruffer LLP, the London-based discretionary manager established by Jonathan Ruffer in 1994, may be about to repeat the trick by not just protecting investors’ assets during periods of extreme volatility, but posting positive gains as well.

While markets roiled during March, its flagship, the Ruffer Investment Company (RIC), a London-listed investment company with around £400 million of assets under manageme...