The Preeminent Safe Haven

Now, more than ever in the modern era of finance, gold is proving to be the world’s preeminent safe haven investment.

Historically, during times of financial upheaval and geopolitical stress gold performs well, but it does compete with other perceived safe havens. Global investors typically send capital to the United States, fueling rallies in the U.S. dollar and Treasury bills, notes, and bonds because they are viewed as highly secure investments. But not now. Overseas investors are fleeing U.S. assets.

President Trump’s effort to reshape trade by imposing tariffs on America’s trading partners, particularly China, has eroded global confidence in U.S. assets. Through mid-April, the U.S. Dollar Index, a widely-followed measure of the greenback against six leading currencies, had fallen 8.5 percent for the year, a stunning decline. U.S. Treasury prices have swung wildly as major investors dump holdings, while others, fleeing the plummeting stock market, have shifted assets to government bonds, which are less volatile than stocks.

The winner has been gold. The precious metal has been on a record-setting tear, leaping $700 the ounce during the first 3-1/2 months of 2025, a gain of 27 percent. No other investment asset is anywhere close to gold’s performance.

The safe haven move to gold shows no sign of abating. Even after President Trump announced a 90-day pause to his imposition of tariffs, a Bloomberg survey of more than 200 global institutional investors found 50 percent planned to decrease their exposure to U.S. assets. Gold is clearly the safe haven for all seasons.