HSBC: Affluent Investors Double Gold Allocations
Safe haven demand is on the rise as gold saw the greatest allocation increase amongst all asset classes, according to a survey of affluent investors by HSBC.
Allocations to gold and other precious metals more than doubled in the past 12 months from 5 percent to 11 percent, according to HSBC’s 2025 Affluent Investor Snapshot, marking the largest average increase across all asset classes.
Within Asia, Indonesia, mainland China, and Malaysia registered the largest increases. Half of affluent investors globally plan to invest in gold in the next year, with almost three in 10 interested in accessing the metal in a tokenized format.
Alts Rise, Cash Falls
Another notable change is the rise in demand for alternatives, with five in 10 affluent investors globally expecting to add the asset class to their portfolios within the next year, doubling the current level of ownership. 30 percent say they will have private markets exposure. On the other hand, cash levels decreased by nearly 40 percent on average, amid falling interest rates.
«Across Asia, affluent individuals are taking a more strategic approach to build their portfolios,» said Kai Zhang, head of international wealth and premier banking, Asia, HSBC. «While maintaining savings is important, their ambitions increasingly require their money to work harder and over a longer time horizon.»
The report was based on data gathered in March 2025 from 10,797 individual investors in 12 markets – Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, UAE, UK and US. The investors were aged 21 to 69 with investable assets ranging from $100,000 to $2 million.
