Investment Update: Gold, an efficient hedge

We have established the Relevance of gold as a strategic asset and the importance of portfolio diversification, but in this analysis we look specifically at gold’s role as a hedge compared to other well-established hedges.

We focus on volatility and credit hedges as well as real assets, particularly precious metals, and adjust the amount of a given hedge in a portfolio depending on the risk exposure of that portfolio.5 Finally, we ranked the effectiveness of each hedging strategy based on attributes including returns, portfolio volatility, risk-adjusted returns and portfolio drawdown.

Historically, gold prices have not increased as rapidly in tail events1 as hedges that track market volatility indices.2 But, importantly, gold has served as a safe haven, improving risk-adjusted returns and adding welcome liquidity during times of crisis, without the costly effects of systematic implementation or the difficulties of market timing.

The benefits of certain portfolio hedges came into clear focus during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and did so again during the subsequent European sovereign debt crisis, the 2018 December stock market pullback and the most recent COVID-19 pandemic. Many tail hedges work well during crises if timed appropriately, but are technically complex investments, and can be expensive to hold systematically.