Here are some common reasons that our customers have told us they have purchased precious metals, the trends below were evaluated in May 2023:
1. Safe Haven Investment: Precious metals are often considered a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty or market volatility. When stock markets or currencies experience instability, our customers have turned directly to precious metals as a store of value. We seen mild growth with 10% of our customers investing as a safe haven.
2. Portfolio Diversification: Precious metals offer diversification benefits to our customers in an investment portfolio. They have historically exhibited low or negative correlation with other asset classes like stocks and bonds. Adding precious metals to a portfolio can help reduce overall risk and enhance stability, and we evaluate 15% – 20% of customers to buy precious metals for this reason.
3. Inflation Hedge: Precious metals are often seen as a hedge against inflation. When the value of paper currency declines due to inflationary pressures, the price of precious metals typically rises. Our customers buy precious metals to protect their purchasing power since currency devalues with inflation and precious metals increase. About 25% of our customers invest in precious metals to hedge against inflation, which has been similar to the previous 12 months.
4. Store of Value: Precious metals have been valued throughout history for their rarity, durability, and inherent worth. Many of our customers buy precious metals simply to put their cold hard cash into rather than keeping cash in the bank. Our customers often comment they don’t want to expose themselves to potential bank collapses like recently seen in US markets, and rather than buy other asset classes, they chose precious metals because of the easy liquidity. This has increased from 25% of our customers to 35%
The balance percentage of our customers preference falls outside these reasons.
We all have different reasons why we purchase different things in life, and as always its recommended to discuss and even get advice when you have uncertainty on the items prior to purchasing.