As CEO of The World Gold Council, David Tait oversees the physical gold that backs one of the biggest gold ETFs in the world (GLD) – some $180bn of gold – and he brought along one 13kg bar to show Wilf during his appearance on this week’s episode of The Master Investor Podcast – worth a $1.8m. Sadly he asked for it back at the end.
David outlines the six main drivers for gold’s recent surge – from a new wave of Japanese buyers to Chinese deregulation – but why the one that matters the most is the fear of a debt spiral, particularly in the US, which in particular is driving the enormous surge in buying from central banks around the world, who he has particularly close ties to.
He also outlines the one thing he is watching that could lead to a top in the gold price – albeit he assigns a low probability to it – and that is if the US can successfully inflate and grow its way out of its debt problem in the next few years.
He also talks about the future of gold – from digitalisation of gold for use as collateral for institutions, why bitcoin is NOT digital gold, and why increasingly he thinks gold won’t be seen just as a ‘disaster asset’ but as a positive part of all portfolios regardless of what events are coming.
In the final part of the episode, Tait shares the extraordinary story of how childhood abuse, a near breaking point at 30, and five ascents of Mount Everest led him to raise more than £8 million for children’s charity NSPCC – and the life and career lessons he now passes on to the next generation about risk, courage and using trauma as a weapon rather than a shield.
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The Master Investor Podcast with Wilfred Frost