“If market recession fears are increasing, you prefer to hold exposure to gold and not to the white metals, which have a high industrial usage,”
Investors cut holdings in exchange-traded funds for silver, platinum and palladium in the second quarter on fears that a potential recession will reduce industrial demand, but gold assets held up because of its role as a haven, and that will persist.Gold-backed ETFs shrank by just over 1% in the three months through June, or 43 tons, after an 8% surge in the first quarter helped by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By contrast, silver holdings contracted almost 5%, and the outflow in tonnage terms was the biggest since 2011.
The amount in gold ETFs is the lowest since March, while assets in the other three precious metals are around the smallest since 2020.
Gold has held up well relative to silver and platinum. One ounce of gold now buys 90 ounces of silver, the most in almost two years.
The resilience of gold offers yet more evidence to support its role as a component in portfolio asset allocation, in contrast to silver, platinum and palladium, which have more industrial uses and are therefore more exposed to economic downturns, according to Chad Hitzeman, senior business development manager at ETF Securities.
“Where broader markets remain negative, pressured by inflation and central bank hawkishness in taming prices, we see investors holding fast to gold ETFs as a risk-off haven,” said Hitzeman, whose company offers several precious metals products to investors.
