Isn't gold an alternative?

aroominyork

I've been thinking/reading about the pros and cons of alternatives and came across this Harvard article which shows these seven types:

No gold. Why not? It might not meet all the paper's key characteristics of alternatives which is lists as: i) more lightly regulated, ii) illiquid, and iii) low correlation with standard asset classes of stocks/bonds/cash, but I take those to be observed rather than strictly defining characteristics.

wmb194

aroominyork said:

I've been thinking/reading about the pros and cons of alternatives and came across this Harvard article which shows these seven types:

No gold. Why not? It might not meet all the paper's key characteristics of alternatives which is lists as: i) more lightly regulated, ii) illiquid, and iii) low correlation with standard asset classes of stocks/bonds/cash, but I take those to be observed rather than strictly defining characteristics.

It doesn’t fall under commodities?

ColdIron

Most would class gold as a commodity along with oil, pork, OJ and other metals and PMs (silver, aluminium etc)

kempiejon

I think of gold as it's own asset class and not like commodities like pork or oil, I'm not ruling out similarities between gold and other precious metals but it's historic position as a store of wealth does make it different.

Since covid times, when I looked at it again it's risen around 75%. I'm buying more this month despite it being around all time high.

akm2018

From the linked page, my emphasis:

5. Commodities

Commodities are also real assets and mostly natural resources, such as agricultural products, oil, natural gas, and precious and industrial metals. Commodities are considered a hedge against inflation, as they're not sensitive to public equity markets. Additionally, the value of commodities rises and falls with supply and demand—higher demand for commodities results in higher prices and, therefore, investor profit.

aroominyork

OK, but isn't it unhelpful to lump gold together with supply chain commodities which for very different reasons might provide a hedge against inflation?

InvesterJones

aroominyork said:

OK, but isn't it unhelpful to lump gold together with supply chain commodities which for very different reasons might provide a hedge against inflation?

Not all equities are the same, ditto for commodities.