Then there are more esoteric assets, often held through other closed-ended investment companies: the likes of student accommodation, song royalties and renewable energy.
It is worth pointing out that a handful of property and infrastructure focused investment companies hold assets whose cash flows are explicitly or contractually linked to inflation: the likes of LXI REIT, Value and Indexed Property Income, HICL and International Public Partnerships.
Trio of hawks
Returning to our trio of investment company inflation hawks, there are a couple of things you can learn from their portfolios. One is actually about value investing, which for years has been about as fashionable as being an inflation hawk.
But the price you pay for something is important, and if you can invest in assets that are good value at current prices, that is one form of inflation protection.
It does mean, though, being selective and occasionally contrarian – Ruffer has done well from holdings in BP and Shell, and has a top 10 holding in NatWest.
The other is that there is no free lunch. If you really want to protect portfolios from inflation over short time periods (a year for example) buying that protection is going to be expensive.
It is a form of insurance, and like insurance you’ll be extremely glad of it if the worst does happen, but it’ll cost you money if things don’t turn out as bleak as expected.
Clock watching
The answer to the question of how to invest in an inflationary environment turns out to be conditional on your time horizon.
If you want protection against bursts of inflation, there is a way to do that, and it is likely to involve index-linked bonds, as well as a carefully curated selection of equities, perhaps with a side helping of property and alternatives.
Expect unexciting returns if markets surprise on the upside.
If you are more concerned about beating inflation over the long term, then a more conventional portfolio based on equities could do that.
But there will be bumps on the road, especially real-terms bumps.
Nick Britton is Head of Intermediary Communications at the Association of Investment Companies (AIC)
