IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/annopr/v297y2021i1d10.1007_s10479-019-03496-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is the optimal weight for gold in a portfolio?

Author

Listed:
  • Brian M. Lucey

    (Trinity College Dublin
    University of Sydney Business School
    University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City)

  • Maurice Peat

    (University of Sydney Business School)

  • Aleksandar Šević

    (Trinity College Dublin)

  • Samuel A. Vigne

    (Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract

We show that the statistical properties of gold are negatively correlated with equities and that including gold in a portfolio will provide diversification benefits. As there is no consensus on the proportion of gold that should be included in a strategic portfolio allocation we propose a visual tool that associates a performance metric with a range of possible asset weighting schemes—a Sharpe ratio response surface. This very surface shows that a target performance metric can be achieved with a large number of different allocations. We further argue that the rebalancing approach based on the surface closest to the benchmark surface under the Hausdorrf distance metric should be selected. Using a data sample between 1990 and 2018, we find that annual rebalancing with a 44-week lookback period achieves the minimum distance from the benchmark surface.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian M. Lucey & Maurice Peat & Aleksandar Šević & Samuel A. Vigne, 2021. "What is the optimal weight for gold in a portfolio?," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 297(1), pages 277-291, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:297:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10479-019-03496-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10479-019-03496-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10479-019-03496-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10479-019-03496-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reboredo, Juan C., 2013. "Is gold a safe haven or a hedge for the US dollar? Implications for risk management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2665-2676.
    2. Demir, Ender & Gozgor, Giray & Lau, Chi Keung Marco & Vigne, Samuel A., 2018. "Does economic policy uncertainty predict the Bitcoin returns? An empirical investigation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 145-149.
    3. Bekiros, Stelios & Boubaker, Sabri & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2017. "Black swan events and safe havens: The role of gold in globally integrated emerging markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PB), pages 317-334.
    4. E. Allevi & L. Boffino & M. E. Giuli & G. Oggioni, 2019. "Analysis of long-term natural gas contracts with vine copulas in optimization portfolio problems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 274(1), pages 1-37, March.
    5. Dirk G. Baur & Brian M. Lucey, 2010. "Is Gold a Hedge or a Safe Haven? An Analysis of Stocks, Bonds and Gold," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 217-229, May.
    6. Lucey, Brian M. & Sharma, Susan Sunila & Vigne, Samuel A., 2017. "Gold and inflation(s) – A time-varying relationship," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 88-101.
    7. Apergis, Nicholas, 2014. "Can gold prices forecast the Australian dollar movements?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 75-82.
    8. Bruno, Salvatore & Chincarini, Ludwig, 2010. "A historical examination of optimal real return portfolios for non-US investors," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 161-178, October.
    9. Lu Yang & Shigeyuki Hamori, 2014. "Gold prices and exchange rates: a time-varying copula analysis," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 41-50, January.
    10. Reboredo, Juan C. & Rivera-Castro, Miguel A., 2014. "Can gold hedge and preserve value when the US dollar depreciates?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 168-173.
    11. Das, Debojyoti & Kumar, Surya Bhushan & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Hasim, Haslifah M., 2018. "On the relationship of gold, crude oil, stocks with financial stress: A causality-in-quantiles approach," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 169-174.
    12. Claude B. Erb & Campbell R. Harvey, 2013. "The Golden Dilemma," NBER Working Papers 18706, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Bekiros, Stelios & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Sandoval Junior, Leonidas & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2017. "Information diffusion, cluster formation and entropy-based network dynamics in equity and commodity markets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(3), pages 945-961.
    14. Sangram Keshari Jena & Aviral Kumar Tiwari & David Roubaud, 2018. "Comovements of gold futures markets and the spot market," Post-Print hal-02091704, HAL.
    15. Ozturk Feride & Acikalin Sezgin, 2008. "Is Gold a Hedge Against Turkish Lira?," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 3(1), pages 35-40, April.
    16. Ole Emmrich & Francis Joseph McGroarty, 2013. "Should gold be included in institutional investment portfolios?," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(19), pages 1553-1565, October.
    17. Jena, Sangram Keshari & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Roubaud, David, 2018. "Comovements of gold futures markets and the spot market: A wavelet analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 19-24.
    18. Bouri, Elie & Roubaud, David & Jammazi, Rania & Assaf, Ata, 2017. "Uncovering frequency domain causality between gold and the stock markets of China and India: Evidence from implied volatility indices," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 23-30.
    19. Soytas, Ugur & Sari, Ramazan & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Hacihasanoglu, Erk, 2009. "World oil prices, precious metal prices and macroeconomy in Turkey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5557-5566, December.
    20. Sarafrazi, Soodabeh & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & AraújoSantos, Paulo, 2014. "Downside risk, portfolio diversification and the financial crisis in the euro-zone," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 368-396.
    21. Baur, Dirk G. & Dimpfl, Thomas & Kuck, Konstantin, 2018. "Bitcoin, gold and the US dollar – A replication and extension," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 103-110.
    22. Dyhrberg, Anne Haubo, 2016. "Bitcoin, gold and the dollar – A GARCH volatility analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 85-92.
    23. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata K., 2019. "Hedging bitcoin with other financial assets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 30-36.
    24. Bredin, Don & Conlon, Thomas & Potì, Valerio, 2017. "The price of shelter - Downside risk reduction with precious metals," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 48-58.
    25. Capie, Forrest & Mills, Terence C. & Wood, Geoffrey, 2005. "Gold as a hedge against the dollar," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 343-352, October.
    26. Mark, Joy, 2011. "Gold and the US dollar: Hedge or haven?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 120-131, September.
    27. Dyhrberg, Anne Haubo, 2016. "Hedging capabilities of bitcoin. Is it the virtual gold?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 139-144.
    28. Thomas Conlon & Brian M. Lucey & Gazi Salah Uddin, 2018. "Is gold a hedge against inflation? A wavelet time-scale perspective," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 317-345, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Akhtaruzzaman, Md & Banerjee, Ameet Kumar & Ghardallou, Wafa & Umar, Zaghum, 2022. "Is greenness an optimal hedge for sectoral stock indices?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    2. Rathi, Sawan & Mohapatra, Sanket & Sahay, Arvind, 2022. "Central bank gold reserves and sovereign credit risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    3. Rathi, Sawan & Mohapatra, Sanket & Sahay, Arvind, 2021. "Central bank gold reserves and sovereign credit risk," IIMA Working Papers WP 2021-03-02, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    4. Immo Stadtmüller & Benjamin R. Auer & Frank Schuhmacher, 2024. "Core-satellite investing with commodity futures momentum," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(3), pages 261-287, May.
    5. Zhao, Tianrui & Chen, Kezheng & Wang, Qian & Luo, Chunyang, 2023. "Financial literacy, liquidity constraits and household risk asset allocation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    6. Zheng, Yizhe & Li, Jiali & Zhang, Xinhe, 2023. "Executives with overseas background and green innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    7. Echaust, Krzysztof & Just, Małgorzata, 2022. "Is gold still a safe haven for stock markets? New insights through the tail thickness of portfolio return distributions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. O'Connor, Fergal A. & Lucey, Brian M. & Batten, Jonathan A. & Baur, Dirk G., 2015. "The financial economics of gold — A survey," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 186-205.
    2. Dar, Arif Billah & Bhanja, Niyati & Paul, Manas, 2019. "Do gold mining stocks behave like gold or equities? Evidence from the UK and the US," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 369-384.
    3. Paul, Manas & Bhanja, Niyati & Dar, Arif Billah, 2019. "Gold, gold mining stocks and equities- partial wavelet coherence evidence from developed countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 378-384.
    4. Shubhasis Dey, 2016. "Historical Events and the Gold Price," Working papers 198, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    5. Wang, Kuan-Min & Lee, Yuan-Ming, 2022. "Is gold a safe haven for exchange rate risks? An empirical study of major currency countries," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Gülseven, Osman & Ekici, Özgün, 2016. "The Turkish appetite for gold: An Islamic explanation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 41-49.
    7. Dey Shubhasis & Sampath Aravind, 2017. "Dynamic Linkages between Gold and Equity Prices: Evidence from Indian Financial Services and Information Technology Companies," Working papers 251, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    8. Semeyutin, Artur & Downing, Gareth, 2022. "Co-jumps in the U.S. interest rates and precious metals markets and their implications for investors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Imran, Zulfiqar Ali & Ahad, Muhammad, 2021. "Safe Haven or Hedge: Diversification Abilities of Asset Classes in Pakistan," MPRA Paper 107613, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 May 2021.
    10. Zulfiqar Ali Imran & Muhammad Ahad, 2022. "Safe-haven investments against stock returns in Pakistan: a role of real estate, gold, oil and US dollar," International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(1), pages 167-189, February.
    11. Qureshi, Saba & Rehman, Ijaz Ur & Qureshi, Fiza, 2018. "Does gold act as a safe haven against exchange rate fluctuations? The case of Pakistan rupee," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 685-708.
    12. Sangyup Choi & Junhyeok Shin, 2020. "Brave New World? Bitcoin is not the New Gold: Understanding Cryptocurrency Price Dynamics," Working papers 2020rwp-167, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    13. Kang, Sang Hoon & McIver, Ron P. & Hernandez, Jose Arreola, 2019. "Co-movements between Bitcoin and Gold: A wavelet coherence analysis," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 536(C).
    14. He, Qing & Guo, Yongxiu & Yu, Jishuang, 2020. "Nonlinear dynamics of gold and the dollar," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    15. Choi, Sangyup & Shin, Junhyeok, 2022. "Bitcoin: An inflation hedge but not a safe haven," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    16. Zhou, Siwen, 2018. "Exploring the Driving Forces of the Bitcoin Exchange Rate Dynamics: An EGARCH Approach," MPRA Paper 89445, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Cheng, Wan-Hsiu & Chen, Chun-Da & Lai, Hsiao-Pin, 2020. "Revisiting the roles of gold: Does gold ETF matter?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Śmiech, Sławomir & Papież, Monika, 2017. "In search of hedges and safe havens: Revisiting the relations between gold and oil in the rolling regression framework," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 238-244.
    19. Husain, Shaiara & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Sohag, Kazi & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2019. "Connectedness among crude oil prices, stock index and metal prices: An application of network approach in the USA," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 57-65.
    20. Liu, Min & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2022. "Is gold a long-run hedge, diversifier, or safe haven for oil? Empirical evidence based on DCC-MIDAS," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gold; Portfolio formation; Asset allocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • F49 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:297:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10479-019-03496-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.