Affluent Investors Double Allocation to Gold in 2025

One of the biggest investment trends in 2025 is that buying physical gold has gone mainstream. No longer is owning gold viewed as an exotic alternative; gold has become the standout asset class among affluent investors and has become a mainstream portfolio component for diversification.

Wealthy investors more than doubled their allocation to gold from 5% to 11% this year, according to a new HSBC survey.

The HSBC Affluent Investors survey revealed that among wealthy investors, allocations to cash and cash equivalents fell by 13 points, while gold saw the biggest jump, increasing by 6 points. Real estate investment allocation increased 3 points, while equities lost 2 points and private equity gained 3 points.

It’s not just the affluent who are buying gold; high net worth individuals are also shifting more heavily into gold. There has been a noticeable uptick among high-net-worth U.S. clients who want to diversify from the depreciating U.S. dollar, which has dropped 10% this year, Stephen Jury, J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s global commodity strategist, said.

Investors aren’t just buying more gold; they are shifting how and where they store it.

Some high-net-worth American investors are shifting geography for where they store their physical gold, diversifying their gold holdings across multiple countries like Switzerland and Singapore.

Investors looking for the utmost in security are choosing military bunkers turned vaults. Swiss Gold Safe has built two of these vaults deep in the Swiss Alps, according to COO Ludwig Karl. “Most of our clients are from first-world countries,” Karl said. “However, our clients have lower trust in government or financial systems or are trying to build a backup or insurance plan by holding precious metals outside of the banking system in a neutral and safe country.”

In a fast-changing and increasingly complex world, physical gold offers investors a degree of control and privacy that is unparalleled in today’s highly regulated and tracked financial system.

Unlike stock, bond, or real estate investments that are tied to a specific location or fiat currency, gold is universally accepted and can be converted into local currency in every country on the globe. It carries a standardized and recognized value for a one-ounce coin, no matter whether you are in Tokyo, London, New York or Sao Paulo.

The record price of gold this year reveals the heightened uncertainty around what could lie ahead, but owning physical gold provides a proven ballast to portfolios and the safety and security that only an asset with a 5,000-year track record can provide. Have you considered if it is time to increase your allocation to gold—do you own enough?