Many of you may be wondering what has been happening to Gold over the last couple of years. The SA Bullion Gold Report recently quoted these interesting statistics for periods up to 30 September 2017:
| Gold performance | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years | Year to date |
| In US$ | -2.9% | +3.0% | -6.2% | +5.6% | +11.5% |
| In SA Rand | -4.8% | +8.1% | +3.4% | +13.0% | +9.3% |
(annualized for periods longer than a year)
If we compare these returns with the JSE All Share index it is evident that Gold has struggled relative to SA Equities in rand terms over the last 5 years, where the All Share is up 13% per annum, and especially year to date where the All Share index is up over 20%.
We therefore continue to hold the opinion that Gold as a stand-alone asset class does not fit into our portfolio structures but we do recognize that there are times when Gold can perform very well, especially when there is a lot of fear and uncertainty in the world.
