Survey Of Asian Investors Show Gold Still Overshadowed By Equities As Inflation Hedge

Demand for gold in Asia is huge, but inflation-hedge demand for the metal is still being overshadowed by equities according to a Barclays survey.

According to investment bank Barclays Capital's survey equities are the most sought after hedge against inflationary pressures, while gold was the second most popular choice.

The survey covered clients of wealth management organisations with combined assets under management of over USD 5 trillion.

Equities continue to be the most recommended asset by wealth managers for the next six months to produce a global balanced-risk investor portfolio, it added.

Thanks to solid growth in the region, equities are still competitive with gold. Asian economies' relative immunity to stagflation raises a question: were stagflation to harry the Indian and Chinese economies, what would be the effect on gold demand? With respect to North America, the question's easy to answer: investors would tend to switch into gold. But, in Asia, increasing wealth is already shunted into gold. Stagflation would interrupt that ready source of demand.

Moreover, Asian central banks would likely tighten.

Thankfully, the question is hypothetical right now. Despite the allure of equities, gold still sells well when Asian growth and inflation coincide.