'I'm definitely not buying up': Mobius says gold is no longer attractive

Gold is no longer an attractive asset to buy after its price rose 65% in the past year, said Mark Mobius, a prominent investor and managing director of the Mobius Emerging Opportunities Fund.

"I certainly won't be buying it at this level," he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Jan. 16.

Mobius added that he would consider increasing the share of gold in his portfolio if its price drops by 20% from current levels. He also said in a recent interview that he is not getting out of gold yet.

According to the investor, the attractiveness of precious metals could decline if the dollar recovers. Last year, the Bloomberg Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against ten global peers, fell 8 percent, posting its worst performance since 2017. That said, some Wall Street forecasters suggest the U.S. economy will get a boost this year thanks to tax cuts, real wage growth and prosperity. In particular, Goldman Sachs economists expect US GDP to grow by 2.5% in 2026 after 2% last year.

Last year was the best year for gold since 1979, as its value hit an all-time high amid central bank purchases, lower interest rates and investor demand due to geopolitical tensions. Many Wall Street asset managers believe that gold will continue to rise in 2026, as its supportive factors are not going anywhere. Most of the asset managers Bloomberg spoke to in early January said they have decided not to significantly reduce their exposure to gold. Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson advised investors to allocate 20% of their portfolio to real assets, including gold, to protect against inflation, replacing the traditional 60/40 ratio of stocks to bonds with a 60/20/20 formula.

Wells Fargo also reported this week that it sees potential for gold growth in 2026 due to the aggravation of geopolitical tensions and aggressive purchases of the precious metal by central banks around the world. In turn, Goldman Sachs strategists warned investors buying gold in search of a "safe haven" from excessive optimism. According to their calculations, over 20-year intervals, the precious metal protected against inflation only in half of the cases, while U.S. stocks always showed outperforming growth over similar intervals.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor