Gold Hits All-Time Highs: Assessing the Rally and Gold’s Role in Portfolios
March 4, 2025
Daily Observations editor Jim Haskel sits down with head of contra-currencies Hudson Attar and portfolio strategist Alex Smith to discuss the gold rally and the type of diversification gold can provide.
Gold has been an interesting asset over the last few months and, really, over the last few years. The gold price has jumped over 90% since 2020, more than 30% over the past 12 months, and has hit all-time highs over the past few days (as of this podcast’s recording, gold was on the cusp of hitting $3,000 an ounce).
What’s so interesting about the move in gold is that the normal relationship between gold prices and real yields has largely broken down, which is reflective of the fact that the demand for gold is emanating from the growing desire for a US dollar alternative.
This phenomenon is notable in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and America’s use of the dollar system to sanction Russia. And now, with the US government using tariffs against some of its biggest trading partners, questions are rising around the implications for growth, inflation, and the monetary system as a whole—and what sorts of assets can provide protection against these forces in the context of the recent equity sell-off.
This topic has led to a lot of conversations with our clients around where the gold price could go from here and how to think about the role of gold in their strategic asset allocation. To explore these questions, Daily Observations editor Jim Haskel recently sat down with Hudson Attar, Bridgewater’s head of contra-currencies, and portfolio strategist Alex Smith. They discuss how gold markets have shifted in recent years, how that shift has impacted gold’s behavior as an asset, the drivers of the recent gold rally, the diversification properties of gold, our thoughts on gold going forward, and more.
Please note this podcast includes charts that will show up in the media player. We’ve also included those charts in the transcript below for reference. And listeners can navigate to the sections most relevant to them by using the chapters in the media player.
To view the transcript and charts click here.
Gold has been an interesting asset over the last few months and, really, over the last few years. The gold price has jumped over 90% since 2020, more than 30% over the past 12 months, and has hit all-time highs over the past few days (as of this podcast’s recording, gold was on the cusp of hitting $3,000 an ounce).
What’s so interesting about the move in gold is that the normal relationship between gold prices and real yields has largely broken down, which is reflective of the fact that the demand for gold is emanating from the growing desire for a US dollar alternative.
This phenomenon is notable in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and America’s use of the dollar system to sanction Russia. And now, with the US government using tariffs against some of its biggest trading partners, questions are rising around the implications for growth, inflation, and the monetary system as a whole—and what sorts of assets can provide protection against these forces in the context of the recent equity sell-off.
This topic has led to a lot of conversations with our clients around where the gold price could go from here and how to think about the role of gold in their strategic asset allocation. To explore these questions, Daily Observations editor Jim Haskel recently sat down with Hudson Attar, Bridgewater’s head of contra-currencies, and portfolio strategist Alex Smith. They discuss how gold markets have shifted in recent years, how that shift has impacted gold’s behavior as an asset, the drivers of the recent gold rally, the diversification properties of gold, our thoughts on gold going forward, and more.
Please note this podcast includes charts that will show up in the media player. We’ve also included those charts in the transcript below for reference. And listeners can navigate to the sections most relevant to them by using the chapters in the media player.
To view the transcript and charts click here.