Insights

On November 9th the World Gold Council held an EVOLVE Investment Summit in Singapore. Our series of EVOLVE conferences explore the trends and issues shaping the future of finance. What happens in Asia is hugely significant for the gold market. India and China are the largest gold consuming markets, and other markets in the region including Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan are major trading centres for gold. In a post for goldhub, Dr Parag Khanna, one of this year’s keynote speakers, writes about the shifting economic centre of gravity and Asia’s role in the global economy.

The world appears to be poised for the next step in the evolution of money. Private cryptocurrencies have emerged as a potential new medium of exchange, although their long-term viability is yet to be proven. Central banks have also seized on the possibilities brought about by our highly digitised world with the development of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs.

On November 3rd, 2021, we hosted our fourth annual conference, the EVOLVE Investment Summit virtually.

After five consecutive monthly inflows, collective holdings in Chinese gold ETFs reached 74t (US$4bn, RMB27bn) at the end of October, the highest AUM on record in tonnage terms. We cover this and more in our monthly blog on China's gold market. 

In this episode of our Strategic Edge series, Joyce Chang, Chair of Global Research at J.P. Morgan, discusses market and allocation strategy trends with our Global Head of Research, Juan Carlos Artigas.

Our latest Gold Demand Trends report takes a detailed look at the global gold market in the third quarter. The fact that gold demand so far this year is down 9%, while the average gold price over the same period was 4% higher, exemplifies gold’s diversification benefits, thanks to its varied roles as an investment, consumer good and a reserve asset.

At the last monetary policy meeting held in October, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained its accommodative stance and kept its policy repo rate unchanged at 4%

Explore India's gold market in September: gold prices, retail demand, RBI purchases and more!

Gold prices fell in September. The LBMA Gold Price AM in USD and the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price (PM) in CNY declined by 4.6% and 4.3% respectively last month. The rising interest rate, outflows from global gold ETFs, and a stronger dollar all contributed to gold price weaknesses in September.

Listen as CIO of Lombard Odier, Stéphane Monier, discusses evolving macroeconomic trends, their impact on allocation and ESG strategy with World Gold Council’s Chief Market Strategist, John Reade.

Central banks bought 28.4t of gold in August, 9% less than in July. Leaving aside January’s 11.2t net sale, this is the lowest level of monthly net purchases so far this year.

China’s economy is facing challenges. Gold, with its unique relationship with the Chinese stock market and the independence from China’s economy, could be an effective tool for investors.

We have just published the latest in the ‘gold and climate change’ research series subtitled ‘decarbonising investment portfolios’. This, the fourth of our climate-focused reports, builds on our previous work to quantify gold’s carbon footprint and its decarbonisation pathway.

In the recently published 2021 Alternative Assets in Europe report, one thing is clear: alternative assets are en vogue amongst European investors.

We’ve regularly discussed rates and inflation in 2021 as two key drivers of global markets. With lower expected future returns on fixed income, these drivers give credence to the idea that many institutional investors would need to move further out on the curve (take more risk) and/or use leverage to meet their financial obligations. Both of which now appear to be happening.

Explore India's gold market last month - the domestic gold price, retail demand, import data and more!

Explore China's gold market in August. We cover the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price PM, wholesale physical gold demand, gold ETF inflows, impacts of the rise in COVID-19 cases and more.