“We'll see soon gold above $2 an ounce”. The prophecy is of Joe Foster, strategist of Van Eck Absolute Return, who yesterday entertained investors on the yellow metal's prospects. In the same hours, gold was traveling on Wall Street around $1.765 an ounce, an eight-year high, slightly more than the prices of today, around $1.748, thus confirming itself as the defensive tool par excellence in a season of great uncertainty: since the beginning of the year, gold has recorded a performance of +15% in dollars and +18% in Euros.
Supporting the rally were purchases of large investment funds and ETFs which, in April, directed a part of the liquidity arriving from central banks (about 9,9 billion dollars, against 7 in March) to purchases of products linked to the noble metal. A trend destined to be confirmed also in May, judging by the advice of the big names, including Paul Singer of Elliott Management, known in our area for investments in Telecom Italia, Ansaldo Sts and, above all, in Milan. Elliott, which manages a portfolio of around $40 billion, defined gold in a letter to clients as “the most undervalued financial asset in the face of the forthcoming decline of the most important currencies pushed down by the debts accumulated to deal with the pandemic". Basically, a universal remedy: gold today benefits from the drop in interest rates, which lowers the cost of purchases, tomorrow, in the event of a resumption of inflation (taken for granted by many), it will only act as a magnet for savings, large and small.
The renewed attractiveness of gold has prompted investors to multiply the offer of products intended for retail. It's a long list of etc. (i.e. ETFs specialized in commodities) offered by investment houses. Tipom, for example, i.e. Invesco Physical Gold Etc which aims to replicate the performance of the London Gold Market PM Fixing Price in dollars and is represented by certificates backed by gold bars kept in the London vaults of JP Morgan Chase.
But a company is listed on the Italian Aim, Confinvest, the Italian leader as a market dealer of physical investment gold, which he developed a trading system awarded yesterday by Capital Finance International as the best European IPO 2019 in terms of technology and innovation. The reason for the award is the ability to position itself as a trait d'union for institutional investors, retail customers and banks operating in the physical gold market. Basically, taking advantage of the opportunities of the European PSD 2 directive, a platform has been developed in the test phase in these days capable of exploiting innovation in payment systems and in the fintech field. “The digital solution Conto Lingotto – says the CEO Giacomo Andreoli – will be able to offer a wide range of customers the opportunity to buy/sell physical gold, have custody of it and build an accumulation plan with extreme ease and speed”.
While waiting for the App launched on May 12 to pass the tests, Confinvest boasts appreciable stability: the stock trades at 4,35 euros, against the 4 euros at the beginning of the year, after having overcome the critical phase of the gold market at the beginning March when it slipped to 2,80.
