‘I copied my Isa and won the £1,000 prize’

Fantasy Fund Manager

A big bet on gold miners – and faith in a stock he owns for real – won Kunal Soni the weekly £1,000 prize in Telegraph Money’s Fantasy Fund Manager and propelled him towards winning the grand £5,000 jackpot.

The 37- year- old accountant from Leeds boosted his fantasy portfolio, trojanwolf, by 10pc, turning £ 99,503 into £109,696.

Mr Soni loaded his fund up with gold miners, which then soared as the gold price rose by 3pc in a week. Shares in firms such as Polymetal International, Centamin and Hochschild Mining jumped by around 10pc.

“I saw that the gold price had stabilised after a challenging year for the metal and took a punt that it could rally and supercharge returns for the miners,” Mr Soni said.

However, one other stock helped him win the prize: Frasers Group, owner of the Sports Direct brand. Its shares rose by 12pc last week after Mike Ashley, the chief executive and founder, said the firm would buy back up to £60m worth of shares, reducing the number available and increasing their value. “Everything came together in my portfolio to give me a perfect week,” said Mr Soni.

But Frasers Group is not just a fantasy holding for Mr Soni. He also owns it in his real-life Isa, where it is a 20pc holding, alongside a 10pc position in Superdry, another high street retailer.

“I bought Sports Direct shares when they were £2 at the peak of the crisis in April and have more than doubled my money. Like Superdry, it is a great retailer that has been unfairly discounted by other investors,” he said.