Recent research by BullionVault highlighted that nearly one-third (32.9%) of investors in precious metals consider banking failures to be the most probable trigger for a financial market crash in 2024.
Concerns about an economic recession (31.9%) and geopolitical conflict (15.4%) followed.
The survey has been run each year since 2014, and this year included 2002 individuals in the UK.
“While geopolitical turbulence has put a rising floor beneath gold prices so far this decade, investors now see financial and economic instability as the biggest risks for 2024. Physical bullion continues to appeal as a hedge against such turmoil, boosting confidence in gold’s underlying uptrend even at this year’s new record prices, said Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault.
The price of gold in GBP per ounce has experienced a notable increase of 6.9% throughout the current year.
BullionVault reported that in December, Gold achieved record highs in all major currencies except the Swiss Franc.
Furthermore, despite inflation being a huge concern for investors a year ago, it is not perceived as a major threat in the upcoming year.
While the respondents identify banking failures as the most probable cause of a financial market crash next year, their primary reason for investing in physical bullion is their concern about underlying currency debasement and inflation (33.9%).
Looking forward to 2024, monetary policy remains the leading factor at the forefront, with 25.0% of respondents emphasising its significance, followed by geopolitics at 22.0% and government deficits at 20.8%.
“While geopolitical turbulence has put a rising floor beneath gold prices so far this decade, investors now see financial and economic instability as the biggest risks for 2024. Physical bullion continues to appeal as a hedge against such turmoil, boosting confidence in gold’s underlying uptrend even at this year’s new record prices,” said Adrian Ash.
