A FUND manager based in Athol Street, Douglas, has received press coverage across the world after describing the US as "the world's poorest country" on international TV.

Tom Winnifrith, manager of the SF t1ps Smaller Companies Gold Fund, appeared live on the CNBC network on Monday to give his views about gold and the US dollar.

As part of his commentary Tom displayed a £20 pounds Isle of Man bank note, asking the presenter "what is this worth?"

Tom told the panel that he lived in the Isle of Man and that it had a sound and safe economy.

But his words about the US were not quite as kind. He argued the US dollar is set to crash as the "US is the world's poorest country" and that "the US is practically owned by China".

Such was the impact of Tom's appearance that his comments have been reported across the world - from the US to Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Macedonia and Mongolia.

Tom was invited onto CNBC to discuss the gold price following a successful first year for his SF t1ps Smaller Companies Gold Fund which is ranked as the fourth best performing unit trust across all sectors in the UK.

The fund seeks growth by investing in smaller companies involved in the mining, exploration, development and production of gold and silver and invests across a range of companies in London, Australia and Canada.

Tom works from the Athol Street head office of Rivington Street Holdings, a listed company where Tom is the CEO and Jim Mellon is chairman.

Tom said: "I didn't envisage that I'd be quoted in the press from countries such as Lithuania or Mongolia, however, at last the world is waking up to the fact that the dollar and all paper currencies are a busted flush and as such gold is set to continue to hit new record highs.

"Anyone not owning some gold shares or units in a well managed gold fund is taking an enormous risk with their wealth."