David Tice

David Tice managed the Prudent Bear Fund, one of the few US mutual funds explicitly designed to profit from declining markets. The fund combined short positions in overvalued equities with long positions in gold and precious metals. During the 2000-2002 bear market following the dot-com bust, the Prudent Bear Fund was one of the best-performing funds in the US while nearly all equity funds declined sharply. Tice sold the fund to Federated Investors in 2008. He has been a persistent critic of excessive market valuations and a proponent of gold and precious metals as portfolio insurance against financial system instability. His long-standing bearish thesis on credit and equity valuations, which often seemed premature during bull market periods, was validated by two major bear markets during his tenure — reinforcing his view that margin debt, overvaluation, and credit excess eventually resolve through significant asset price corrections.