(Kitco News) - Gold is traditionally seen as a defensive asset, as insurance in a portfolio; however, the precious metal’s historic gains last year could begin to challenge what appears to be an outdated definition.
This week, The Swiss Federal Pension Fund PUBLICA reported a net investment return of 5.9% in 2024, consolidated across all pension plans.
The Fund said that its returns were driven by its equity investments and precious metal holdings. Publica said that its equity holdings had the biggest positive impact on PUBLICA’s consolidated total assets in 2024.
“With a net annual return of 14.5%, they contributed 4.7 percentage points to the overall return of 5.9%,” the company said in its statement.
North American-listed companies performed the best while European stocks underperformed.
Meanwhile, the fund said precious metals were the second-biggest influence on PUBLICA’s consolidated total assets in 2024, delivering a 33% return.
“For diversification reasons, PUBLICA invests a portion of its assets in precious metals such as gold and silver,” the fund said.
Although the gold market consolidated during the last two months of the year, prices saw one of its best performances in the last four decades, rising 27%.
Publica said that its bond portfolio was the weakest link last year.
“With a total annual return of 1%, bonds made a slightly positive contribution of 0.4 percentage points to the overall return,” the fund said.
