Gold – an ageless form of investment

Gold is one of the oldest means of payment and has always been on object of desire. Whether it was used for the conservation of assets or to give expression to its owner’s wealth in the form of expensive jewellery: gold has always been the classic choice. Does this mean that gold is valued by mostly older people? A recent survey by the market research firm GfK on behalf of Deutsche Börse Commodities analysed the investment behaviour of Germans with regard to gold, revealing astounding insights: while the possession of gold in the form of coins, bullions and jewellery is very similar across all age groups, it is young people who value the precious metal most. This goes for investors who already own gold as well as for potential first-time buyers. While around 33 per cent of all interviewed respondents said they can imagine acquiring physical gold, it was 57 per cent of the respondents aged up to 44 years that did so – a considerably higher share.

The difference between the age groups is even more prominent when it is not a matter of physical gold, but gold in the form of gold bonds. In this case, the enthusiasm of investors up to 44 years of age is significantly higher than that of the average interviewee, and almost three times as high as with investors aged over 70. There are, of course, also differences in the interest in gold as an investment with regard to the experience investors have gained so far: respondents who already are invested in gold rate the precious metal three times more attractive than investors do who have never had gold in their securities accounts. The situation is very similar with those who already added gold to their security accounts: in this case, more than twice as many respondents rated gold an attractive investment form. However, an area where gold owners of all age groups agree is the share of their available assets invested in gold, which is 13 per cent on average.

Arnulf Hinkel
Financial journalist