This UK investor made a fortune from gold and oil. Which FTSE 100 shares does he like now?
After flying out of the traps in early 2026, the FTSE 100 has tanked around 8% in three weeks. Yet this just makes what was an already cheap index even better value while increasing dividend yields.
UK investor Jim Mellon certainly sees a lot of value on offer. And he’s not short of a bob or two after making a fortune on gold and oil.
So, which Footsie stocks does he like now?
Two tremendous trades
As a quick reminder, Mellon is a businessman and successful private investor. Those who listened to him nearly a decade ago and took action would have made a lot of money. Because he was very publicly piling into gold and silver back then.
In 2017, he wrote: “I am absolutely convinced that gold and silver are necessary in the current [inflationary] environment.” And then a couple of years later, he told a fellow investor: âInvesting in 2020 is going to be easy. All you need to do is own gold and silver.â
From $1,148 per ounce in early 2017, gold has skyrocketed over the past few years. As I write, it’s above $4,650, even after falling more than 10% recently. Meanwhile, silver has more than doubled in the past year.
By late 2025, however, Mellon had exited most of his gold and silver positions. And the sector he was bullish on was energy due to its cheapness and the need for huge amounts of power to support the AI revolution.
In early January, he highlighted BP and Shell as oil stocks he liked. Year to date, they’re up 32.3% and 25.3%, respectively. But he was also piling into everything energy-related, from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to overseas firms like Equinor (+65% in 2026).
What about now?
Naturally, Mellon doesn’t get every call right (nobody does). For example, he has long been bearish on US tech giants, which have done brilliantly over the past decade. And investors in Agronomics, his food technology start-up vehicle, haven’t done well.
Nevertheless, he gets more right than wrong, and currently he’s bullish on the FTSE 100 due to a “commodities supercycle“. That is, a prolonged period of high prices for raw materials due to years of underinvestment.
More broadly, he’s bullish on cheap dividend stocks across various sectors, including BP, Shell, Rio Tinto, British Land, and International Consolidated Airlines (AIG).
Another he likes, which I just bought recently, is Legal & General (LSE:LGEN). Shares of the pensions and life insurance stalwart are down almost 13% in the past month, with the Iran war and a return of inflation adding significant risk to the British economy.
However, the main attraction here is the ultra-high-yield income on offer. Because after its recent dip, Legal & General’s forward yield is 9.2%. Using the forecast for FY27, the forward-looking yield rises to 9.4%.
While payouts are never guaranteed, management has already earmarked over £5bn for shareholders between 2025 and 2027, including a mammoth £1.2bn share buyback. Backed up by a strong balance sheet, the dividend looks very attractive to me.
Legal & General has a trusted brand and long-term growth opportunities in retirement solutions due to a rapidly ageing population. It’s one of a number of FTSE 100 stocks I think are worth looking at right now.
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Ben McPoland has positions in Legal & General Group Plc. The Motley Fool UK has recommended British Land Plc. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
