Falcon Private Bank, the Swiss wealth manager owned by Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments, has launched a new gold equities UCITS fund in Luxembourg under the management of Tocqueville Asset Management.

The new vehicle will invest primarily in firms involved in mining or processing gold, but some of the fund can be invested in the stocks of companies which mine or process other precious metals, gems or coloured metals.

Managing the fund will be John Hathaway of New York-based Tocqueville, along with co-portfolio manager Doug Groh and four analysts. Tocqueville is a well-known specialist in gold equities; of its $11 billion of assets under management around $2.65 billion is managed in its flagship Tocqueville Gold Fund.

The Falcon Gold Equity UCITS Fund will initially be available only in Luxembourg, Germany and Austria, but further markets for distribution are planned, the firm said.

Several firms have thrown their weight behind gold stocks in recent weeks, including JP Morgan Asset Management, arguing that such equities can still offer value despite their disappointing performance since the start of last year.

“In our view, gold equities are trading at depressed levels, the industry is recognising the importance of better capital discipline, cost control and paying increasing dividends to compete with gold ETFs,” Neil Gregson, lead manager of the JPM Global Natural Resources Fund, came out to say last month. “As such, we believe investors should not give up on gold stocks.”