Money of Mine
The Hedge Fund That Stays Ahead of the Street (Matt Zabloski)
Why It Matters
Materials and precious metals are poised for a long‑term supply‑demand imbalance as Western investment lags, creating outsized opportunities for savvy investors. Understanding Delbrook’s approach helps institutional and retail investors grasp how sophisticated hedging and focused research can capture high returns while navigating the sector’s notorious volatility, making this episode especially relevant as the market re‑prices critical metal exposure.
Key Takeaways
- •Materials sector faces structural supply-demand imbalance from underinvestment
- •Institutional exposure to materials remains around 1.6% of S&P
- •Delbrook’s concentrated portfolio yields >1 Sharpe and 151% 2025 return
- •High‑conviction trades focus on precious, critical, and defense metals
- •Research team’s field work and relationships drive early event‑driven ideas
Pulse Analysis
The natural resources market is undergoing a structural shift as decades of under‑investment in exploration and development have created a supply‑demand gap across most metals. This imbalance is especially pronounced in the West, where limited new projects force reliance on aging assets. Institutional investors have barely scratched the surface, allocating roughly 1.6% of the S&P 500 to materials, leaving a large, under‑priced opportunity for savvy managers who can navigate the heightened volatility that accompanies such a transition.
Delbrook Capital Management distinguishes itself with a high‑conviction, concentrated portfolio that places half of its assets in the top ten to twelve names. The fund’s disciplined use of hedging tools and a blend of relative‑value, thematic, and event‑driven strategies has produced a Sharpe ratio above one and a headline‑grabbing 151% return in 2025, followed by a solid 10% gain in Q1. By keeping exposure focused and leveraging deep research, the firm mitigates risk while capturing outsized upside in a sector where many peers have exited.
Looking forward, Delbrook sees strong thematic tails in precious metals, critical minerals, and defense‑related commodities, especially as Western demand outpaces Chinese export controls slated to expire later this year. Their on‑the‑ground research team, extensive industry relationships, and rigorous valuation models enable early identification of event‑driven catalysts such as M&A, production updates, and energy‑inflation pressures. For investors seeking differentiated exposure, the combination of concentrated high‑conviction ideas and robust risk management offers a compelling alternative to passive material indices.
Episode Description
We sit down with Matt Zabloski of Delbrook Capital, for a rare look inside how a long short resources fund actually generates returns, including a standout 151% year in 2025 and a strong start to 2026.
Matt’s core view is that commodities are entering a structural, not cyclical phase, driven by decades of underinvestment and a growing global supply imbalance. Rather than calling commodity prices, Delbrook focuses on mispriced companies, hedging the underlying exposure to isolate true alpha.
The fund operates across three key strategies. Thematic investing, backing long duration ideas like gold and critical metals. Event-driven trades, capturing opportunities around earnings and production updates. And relative value, exploiting pricing dislocations between securities.
We unpack how this is executed through a high conviction, concentrated portfolio, supported by deep fundamental research, site visits and direct company engagement. Matt explains why most investors end up “chasing commodity beta”, and how Delbrook stays ahead of the street.
We also cover gold equities, defence metals, and why volatility created by “tourists” is exactly where the opportunity lies.
Episode recorded: 04/07/26
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TIMESTAMPS
(0:00) Gold as Currency
(1:30) Structural Commodity Shift
(5:20) Hedge Fund Playbook
(16:00) Portfolio Construction and Shorts
(24:50) Thematic Trades and Tin
(28:10) Critical Metals and Tungsten
(35:00) Lithium Winners and Key Names
(41:10) Uranium, Copper, and Closing
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