...
The Gold Investing Handbook for Asset Managers was authored by Kamol Alimukhamedov, Deputy Managing Director of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan and a Member of their Investment Committee. It provides a comprehensive overview of gold as an investment, including its market structure and strategic asset credentials, as well as its trading, custody, logistics, and accounting practices. Much of this will be familiar territory for precious metals people, though the inclusion of statistics and studies right up to 2023 makes it a valuable update for even seasoned gold investors.
Where the Handbook truly stands out is its clear-eyed and unflinching analysis of the growing trend among central banks to reduce their holdings of U.S. Treasuries while simultaneously increasing the percentage of their reserves allocated to gold.
"In the modern era, gold continues to play a critical role in the global financial system, serving as a hedge against inflation, a safe haven asset, and a reserve asset for central banks," Alimukhamedov notes in the introduction. "The role of gold as a reserve asset for central banks has been a significant driver of demand for the precious metal."
The author lists several economic and geopolitical challenges that have served to bolster gold's position as a safe haven asset, and ends with the one that ignited the current push towards de-dollarization (all emphasis mine).
"The market disruptions brought about by the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the US and China trade war, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a prolonged period of negative real interest rates and geopolitical uncertainties caused by financial sanctions imposed on Russia to freeze its foreign reserves, reinforced the strategic importance of gold as a buffer against financial instability."
...
