In times of crisis investors turn to gold

Markets are still battling COVID, rising inflation, and higher energy and food prices, with the Ukraine crisis compounding this volatility. In such times, investors flock to gold, a haven in turbulent times.

Jodi Stanton, Rush Gold CEO, says, “This crisis is unfolding with analysts unable to predict what tomorrow will hold, let alone next month. What we do know is that the gold price has rallied again in the wake of a geo-political crisis.

“On Friday (25 February, 2022), the price of gold opened strongly, and despite a slight downturn is still sitting at a higher price of US $1900 per ounce (AUD $2676).”

“The appeal of gold in times of crisis has not changed for 4,000 years. What has changed recently is that technology is now driving the way investors can trade gold, increasing their ability to secure it and transfer it almost instantaneously without having to use a broker.

“The other thing that is becoming clearer is whether Bitcoin is a “hedge” in the way that gold is. We’ve always been of the view that gold and Bitcoin serve entirely different functions, and this is being borne out in markets, with Bitcoin correlating to riskier assets like shares and gold showing clear hedging and capital preservation traits in times of turmoil”.

Although many sophisticated investors have gold as part of their portfolio, as the economy increasingly becomes digitised it opens the way for new retail and wholesale investors to invest in this asset.

“The next period is going to be a time of learning and adaptation as the world grapples with yet another geo-political crisis in a digital economy. The one thing that can be determined though, is gold as a currency has already weathered every single crisis down throughout history, but this time with the added benefit of being recently modernised to suit the current climate. With unparallel accessibility and liquidity, the world’s oldest trusted currency is now the newest,” added the Rush Gold CEO.