Since our first Gold Report we have discussed the gradual remonetisation of gold. Last year, we saw numerous signals indicating the fact that gold was gradually becoming “politically correct” again. Due to its high liquidity and unique characteristics, gold is becoming ever more prominent as collateral. Therefore, we are currently seeing the renaissance of gold in international finance. The foundation for a return to “sound money” has been laid.

Negative interest rates constitute a perfect environment for the gold price. During the 20 years of the gold bear market in the 1980s and 1990s, the average real interest rate level was around +4%. Since 2000, real interest rates have been negative for 51% of the time, which constitutes an optimal environment for gold. The fact that the Federal Reserve will now maintain its zero-interest policy until 2014 should result in prolonged negative real interest rates and thus create a positive foundation for further increases in the gold price.

We believe that financial repression will continue to crop up in many shapes and sizes and gain in importance over the coming years. Although we are currently faced with the highest level of public debt in time of peace, far-reaching consolidation of public budgets does not seem to be up for discussion. According to Austrian economics, every act of consumption has to be preceded by production. There seems to be no painless therapy for these problems. We believe that gold is an effective medicine.

We believe that mining shares currently represent a high-leverage bet on the gold price with an extremely attractive risk/return profile. Strong balance sheets, high free cash flows, a substantial increase in margins, low debt levels, and rising dividends all speak in favor of the sector. There are also only a few sectors that are more underweighted by investors. We therefore believe that the current, historically low valuations offer a good opportunity to invest. At this point, we wish to point out that we regard gold as a currency and thus as a form of saving, whereas we consider gold shares a form of investment.

According to Leonard da Vinci, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. We believe that gold is a simple, affordable, time-tested, and reliable good for protecting oneself against the massive tail risks that we are currently facing.