(Bloomberg) -- Golds traditional role as a store of wealth has been usurped by contemporary art and apartments in cities such as New York and London, according to Laurence D. Fink, head of the worlds biggest asset manager.
Historically gold was a great instrument for storing of wealth, the chairman of BlackRock said at a conference in Singapore on Tuesday. Gold has lost its luster and theres other mechanisms in which you can store wealth that are inflation-adjusted.
Over the centuries, bullion traditionally lured demand as a protection of wealth during crises, including conflicts and periods of inflation. Prices posted the first back-to-back annual drop last year since 2000 as investor holdings in exchange-traded products contracted, global equities rallied and the dollar climbed on prospects for higher U.S. interest rates. Since peaking in 2011, its dropped about 38%.
The two greatest stores of wealth internationally today is contemporary art and I dont mean that as a joke, I mean that as a serious asset class, said Fink. And two, the other store of wealth today isapartments in Manhattan, apartments in Vancouver, in London.
Bullion for immediate delivery, which rallied to as much as $1,921.17 an ounce in September 2011, traded at $1,199.13 at 8:41 a.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Its risen about 1.3% this year after losing 1.4% in 2014 and tumbling 28% in 2013.
'EASIER TO OWN'
Holdings in gold-backed ETFs totaled 1,621.7 metric tons as of Monday, 1.5% bigger this year after contracting 9.3% in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The funds trade like shares, enabling investors to own bullion without taking physical delivery of it.
The advent of ETFs for gold made it much easier to own gold and it really democratizes gold, Finksaid at the 2015 Credit Suisse Megatrends conference. I dont believe people believe gold is a great store of wealth today.
The median sale price for existing condos in Manhattan jumped to a six-year high of $1.3 million in the first quarter, driven up by buyers seeking alternatives to out-of-reach new developments, according to Corcoran Group, a brokerage. In the U.K., asking prices for property climbed to a record in April as values in London rose 2.5%, Rightmove Plc said on Monday.
Its become much more accessible for global families worldwide to store wealth outside their country, said Fink. And they dont have to own gold.
--With assistance from Colin Keatinge in Singapore.
Read more:
How Can Fund Providers Leverage the Robo Trend? BlackRock Agrees to Pay $12M Over SEC Conflicts Claims The Fastest-Growing ETFs
