Gold may not beat equities in the long run but it is an avenue for wealth preservation in the short term
Gold can be included in one’s portfolio for the short term
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Sleepwalking could best express what gold prices are going through right now. They are rising alright, but in no way that’s exciting or meaningful when you compare them with the pre-2011 period when they seemed to be in an uptrend forever, consistently giving returns above inflation, year after year. Unsurprisingly, gold was touted as a must-have in one’s portfolio. It went up every time an oil pipeline burst in Nigeria, as investors flocked to it as an inflation hedge.
(This story appears in the 30 March, 2018 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)