It’s no secret that the global economy has grown exponentially more complex and uncertain in recent years. And as it has, evidence continues to emerge that the world’s most astute and best-capitalized investors are turning to gold as a way to help hedge the risks posed to their conventional holdings.
More proof of that can be found in the recently published 2025 edition of HSBC’s annual Affluent Investor Snapshot. According to the report, affluent investors – defined as those with at least $100,000 in investable monies – increased their allocations to alternative assets this year by 100% over 2024…but increased their allocations to gold, specifically, by 120%.
By now, many are familiar with the significant degree to which central banks – certainly among the world’s most affluent investors – have embraced gold. Net purchasers of the metal since 2010, central banks have supercharged their demand to a whole other level in recent years as concerns about global stability have ratcheted higher, stockpiling gold at or near record annual pace since 2022.
Gold Ownership Among the Affluent Expected to Double in the Next 12 Months
Now, it seems, an increasing number of the world’s better-heeled individual investors are following suit, with fully half of the respondents to the HSBC survey saying they expect to own gold within the coming year. That would double the current level of ownership among the demographic.
“Diversification is one of the most effective ways to weather uncertainty, and these findings highlight how affluent investors are building more diversified portfolios,” said Willem Sels, Global Chief Investment Officer of Private Bank and Premier Wealth at HSBC.
But not just any old diversification will do during these especially murky days in the global economy, which is where gold comes in.
For one thing, gold’s fundamental lack of correlation to more mainstream assets has the potential to serve investors as a particularly effective diversifier. Beyond that, the metal’s head-turning record of appreciation since the beginning of the current millennium – a period that has seen a noticeable uptick in uncertainty – highlights the asset’s capacity to optimize portfolio growth; since January 2001, the price of gold has increased more than 1,100%, making it one of the best-performing assets of the last quarter-century.
As I noted earlier, the deliberate move to gold is part of a broader worldwide shift toward the adoption of a more multi-asset approach to portfolio design. In addition to their sizable increase in gold allocations to gold in the past year, investors raised their allocations to commodities, investment real estate and private equity/credit by 33%, 37% and 100% over the same period.
Gold Is “the Standout Asset Class” Among Alternatives Right Now
Still, it’s clear that gold is seeing the most investor energy right now among alternative assets, with HSBC noting:
“Alongside alternatives, gold has emerged as the standout asset class of the year.”
To be sure, there are those who think gold is going to weaken from here now that fears of draconian tariff-induced outcomes are subsiding. But as I and so many others have been saying, the sorts of headwinds that might serve to constrain gold in the shorter term likely are no match for the much more foundational (read: structural) drivers…such as ongoing fiscal profligacy, rising geopolitical uncertainty and growing aversion to the U.S. dollar…sure to keep gold buoyant in the years to come.
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