Capital Ideas Podcast All that glitters: What's driving up gold prices?
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Mar 26, 2026 Rob Lovelace, a metals-focused equity manager skeptical of gold as a long-term hold. Lisa Thompson, a 30-year portfolio manager who highlights central bank buying and reserve diversification. Paul Benjamin, a balanced fund manager who uses gold as a diversifier and favors royalty/streaming companies. They discuss real rates, central bank purchases, reserve diversification in emerging markets, and royalty/streamer exposure versus physical metal.
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Low Real Rates Fueled Gold's Surge
- Gold's recent rise isn't primarily fear-driven but tied to very low real interest rates and money supply expansion.
- Paul Benjamin cites a M1 quintuple after COVID and persistently low real rates as a key propellant for gold.
Frozen Reserves Spurred Central Bank Demand
- Geopolitical actions accelerated non-Western central bank gold buying after 2022, boosting demand structurally.
- Paul Benjamin points to frozen Russian reserves in 2022 as a trigger that sped up central bank purchases.
Buy Gold Exposure Through Royalty Companies
- Use gold exposure via gold streamers and royalty companies rather than physical bullion or ETFs when running active equity portfolios.
- Paul Benjamin highlights Wheaton, Royal Gold, and Franco-Nevada as finance-like firms that compound EPS faster than gold prices.