Market volatility and flight to quality puts gold back in fashion

Physical gold is an extremely liquid asset. It is also the natural hedge against adverse money movements and inflation. While gold has shown strong returns over recent years, its most valuable contribution to a portfolio lies in the fact that it is not correlated with most other assets.Jamie Wynn-Williams investigates.

"Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world… Gold is always accepted," according to Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, speaking in 1999.

Gold as a safe haven asset - valeur refuge - is not a new concept. For hundreds of years, gold has been used as currency, even when money has not been accepted. As the ultimate reserve currency, gold is back in fashion. It has always been seen as a safe haven for investors and as market volatility and uncertainty

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