Wealth preservation abilities are relevant whatever the weather

Gold is entering a new era. In the past gold has been thought of primarily as a safe haven, but now it is recognised as a preserver of wealth by both institutional and private investors, relevant whatever the economic weather.

Unlike most other commodities, the geographical and sectoral diversity of gold demand has been proven to insulate it from Western economic cycles and dampened the volatility inherent in most other commodities. Gold is many things to many people and its price is driven by a much broader range of factors than those that influence other assets. During the course of the last two years, the price of gold has remained impervious to the forces that have dragged down other assets. The period marking the start of the credit crisis, June 2007 to June 2009, when tentative signs of recovery were fir...