Jim Sinclair''s technical review of gold and the U.S. and Canadian dollars

RBC losing fund manager

John Embry, industry veteran and gold specialist,
to become president of Sprott

By Sinclair Stewart
The Globe and Mail, Toronto
Friday, February 14, 2003
a href=http://www.globefund.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/GFGAM/20030214/REMBht...
R

John Embry, one of the country's top fund managers,
has left Royal Bank of Canada to become president
of Sprott Asset Management Inc., a privately held
Toronto investment firm.

Mr. Embry, a noted gold specialist and 30-year
industry veteran, was lead portfolio manager of the
Royal Precious Metals Fund. It was the industry's
top performer last year, gaining 153 percent.

Mr. Embry will assume responsibility for the Sprott
Gold and Precious Minerals Fund when he begins
at the firm on March 1, his 62nd birthday. He will
also be charged with helping to shape the
corporate and investment policies of the company,
which manages more than $1.3 billion in assets.

Eric Sprott, chief executive officer of Sprott Asset
Management, said he was quot;thrilledquot; by the addition
of Mr. Embry. He suggested the fund manager will
spearhead an initiative to encourage Canadians
to increase their investment directly in precious
minerals or in stocks of companies in the industry.

Dan Chornous, chief investment officer of RBC
Global Investment Management, said yesterday
that Gord Zive will succeed Mr. Embry as lead
manager of the Royal Precious Metals Fund.
Mr. Zive, assisted by Chris Beer, currently
oversees the Royal Global Resources Sector
Fund.

Mr. Chornous said he was quot;disappointedquot; when
Mr. Embry submitted his resignation yesterday,
but added that the bank had been preparing a
succession plan for the fund manager.

quot;John's been a great partner, and a key player,
and obviously a solid fund manager for our
unitholders,quot; he said. quot;But having said that, I think
that we also want to emphasize that the bulk of the
funds here have always been managed on a team
approach, and as a result we have a considerable
amount of bench strength.quot;

Already well known in the mutual fund industry, Mr.
Embry gained notoriety last year when he endorsed
the notion of a central bank conspiracy to depress
gold prices.

Last June, Mr. Embry caused a stir -- and became
an instant hero to gold bugs -- when he wrote an
eight-page report suggesting that there was
quot;increasing evidencequot; that bullion prices were
being manipulated. The conspiracy theory,
advocated for years by organizations such as the
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. in Dallas,
essentially argues that central banks try to contain
surges in gold prices in order to maintain
confidence in the U.S. dollar.

RBC distanced itself from the report, saying at the
time that it did not reflect the view of the bank.