March 31, 2026
Commentary
The Ninepoint Resource Class, a class of mutual fund shares of Ninepoint Corporate Fund Inc, is the designated liquidity vehicle for the Ninepoint Flow Through Partnerships. In Q1 2026, the Fund had two liquidity events associated with a rollover of flow-through partnership units, on February 6th, 2026 and on February 13th, 2026.
For Q1 2026, the Fund delivered a total return of 15.0%, compared to the benchmark’s 26.6%. The relative underperformance versus the benchmark was mainly driven by the Fund’s underweight positions in oil and gas relative to the benchmark.
NINEPOINT RESOURCE FUND CLASS - COMPOUNDED RETURNS¹ AS OF MARCH 31, 2026 (SERIES F NPP967) | INCEPTION DATE: FEBRUARY 8, 2022
1M |
YTD |
3M |
6M |
1YR |
3YR |
INCEPTION |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FUND |
-14.85% |
15.01% |
15.01% |
17.31% |
85.60% |
24.61% |
7.62% |
INDEX |
-1.24% |
26.63% |
26.63% |
38.37% |
75.77% |
32.97% |
27.79% |
The Fund remains exposed mainly to precious and base metals as well as critical minerals, but in early March, the Fund’s exposure to oil and gas was increased from ~3.1% at the start of the quarter to ~14.6% on March 31, 2026. The Fund’s oil and gas exposure is achieved by holding a sleeve of the Ninepoint Energy Fund.
As of March 31, 2026, the Fund’s commodity mix continues to be dominated by precious metals (50.4% vs the index at 38.8%) and uranium (12.8% vs the index at 0%). In addition, the Fund equity holdings included exposure to copper (8.1%), rare earths (3.0%) with the remainder in various other industrial metals and the higher position in oil and gas (14.6%).
The commodity complex had a volatile quarter. Precious metals corrected from their January peak following the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the new Federal Reserve Chair, which the market interpreted as potentially a more hawkish Fed stance, with potentially fewer rate cuts. After stabilizing in February, the precious metals complex was once again under pressure in mid-March as the market digested the implications of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East. Our positive stance on gold remains unchanged as Central Bank demand continues and Western investors remain underweight the asset class.
As a result of our positive long-term outlook for nuclear power growth, the Fund maintained its overweight position in uranium equities. Uranium spot prices also remained volatile in Q1 2026, surging 25% in January to over $101/lb before moderating amid broader market weakness to average $86/lb for the quarter. Meanwhile, long-term uranium prices rose steadily during Q1 2026, increasing from $86.5/lb at the end of 2025 to $91.5/lb by the end of March. India’s long-term uranium supply agreement underscores that the increase in long-term prices is being supported by renewed contracting activity. Uranium equities outperformed the commodity during the quarter, increasing 15% compared to a ~3% rise in uranium spot price.
Following a strong Q4 2025, copper prices continued to rise in early Q1 2026, peaking at US$14,527/t in late January before retreating alongside the broader market weakness as oil shock-induced recession fears weighed on sentiment. Copper equities underperformed the metal and were down by ~20% vs the LME copper price decline of ~7.8% since the start of the Middle East conflict. The fund has continued to invest in a variety of critical minerals, including rare earths, which outperformed in Q1 26 as the market digested China’s tariffs and export controls.
At the individual security level, our top Fund contributors for the quarter included gold developer Gold X2 and rare earth producer Lynas Rare Earth. Conversely, performance detractors during Q1 2026 included gold developer Nexgold Mining and Troilus Mining, which were impacted by the general market volatility.
Outlook and Investment Strategy
We continue to believe the general metals and mining space is moving into a decade-plus bull cycle, with the primary drivers for the sector shifted to themes like geopolitics/national security, technological advances, and environmental policy. In the Fund, we continue to focus on high-quality names across the metals complex to provide our investors with diversified exposure to this evolving landscape. The commodity mix in the fund remains focused on metals with positive growth fundamentals and now includes a higher weighting in oil and gas via the Ninepoint Energy Fund.
Nawojka Wachowiak, M.Sc., CIM
Ninepoint Partners