Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Central Banks “Stock Up” on Gold “Amid Uncertainty”

by Mark O’Byrne, Gold Core:

Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds and Central Banks “Stock Up” on Gold “Amid Uncertainty”

By Attracta Mooney
Financial Times, London
Sunday, June 11, 2017

The gold reserves of the world’s biggest public sector investors reached an 18-year high as they hoarded the precious metal after Donald Trump’s election and the Brexit vote added to geopolitical uncertainty.

State investors increased their net gold holdings by 377 tonnes to an estimated 31,000 tonnes last year — the highest level since 1999, according to a study of 750 central banks, public pension plans and sovereign wealth funds with $33.5 trillion in assets.

Danae Kyriakopoulou, chief economist at the Official Monetary and Financial Forum, the central bankers’ forum that compiled the research, said state investors had flocked to the precious metal because of its status as a “haven asset” and to take advantage of rising prices.

“There was a lot of political uncertainty in the past year. There were big political shocks with Brexit and Trump, which have driven investors back to gold,” she said.

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