Super-rich Seen Buying Gold, Selling Hedge Funds

By Steve Lodge

The investment preferences of the world’s wealthiest families have shifted significantly in favour of gold and other commodities and away from hedge funds in the wake of the financial crisis, according to a survey of family offices and advisers of the super-rich.

Two-thirds of the 100 respondents to a survey by the Family Office Channel, a new website, said that super-rich families are now more likely to invest in gold and other commodities. They are also more interested in bond investments and in holding higher amounts of cash as part of an “instinctive retreat to ultra-safe asset classes”.

By contrast, two-thirds of respondents said the wealthiest families are less likely to invest in hedge funds and structured products – investments offering capital protection – with one in three reporting “greatly reduced” interest in these holdings.

Continue reading Super-rich Seen Buying Gold, Selling Hedge Funds