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An employee handles one kilogram gold bullions at the YLG Bullion International Co. headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 22, 2023. Chalinee Thirasupa | Bloomberg | Getty Images A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. With gold prices up roughly 25% this year, the precious metal is in such demand that Costco has capped how many gold bars shoppers can buy in a day. A recent HSBC survey of affluent investors found that gold allocations had more than doubled this year from 5% to 11%. High-net-worth individuals are getting in on the action too, bankers to the wealthy told CNBC, even if they aren’t buying gold bars along with rotisserie chickens. HSBC’s James Steel said the asset’s safe-haven appeal has been bolstered by trade war anxieties and geopolitical tensions. “Gold is a friend of uncertainty,†said the chief precious metals analyst. Investors in Asia and the Middle East have long invested in physical gold due to currency fluctuations, high inflation and cultural affinities. Edmund Shing, global chief investment officer at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, said overseas family offices have allocations as high as 5% to 10% in physical gold or gold-backed investments. However, J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s Stephen Jury said there has been a noticeable uptick among high-net-worth U.S. clients who want to diversify from the depreciating U.S. dollar. “If you’re buying euros or yen and you need to buy an underlying security with that currency, that starts to get a little bit more complex for most clients,† said Jury, the private bank’s global commodity strategist. On the other hand, investing in gold is “easier to get their head around,†he said. For short-term gold trading, futures are a…
