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Gold: Pension Funds Are Selling Bonds to Make Room

VBL's Photo
by VBL
Thursday, Oct 08, 2026 - 10:00

WGC: How Pension Funds Make Room for Gold

Authored by GoldFix 
When stocks and government bonds fall together, a pension fund takes losses on both sides of the book. Several funds already hold gold to provide another source of diversification.

The Bond Hedge Has Become Less Reliable

The three-year and five-year rolling correlations show US Treasuries and global equities moving into positive correlation following the 2022 shift. Gold’s equity correlation varied within a narrower range. Both charts cover June 2006 through June 2026.

 

Pensioenfonds PDN, with €7.7 billion in assets, began buying gold in October 2020, reaching its 5% target in April 2021 after a 2020 asset and liability management study by DPS.

WGC describes the trade:

The study was undertaken during a period in which nominal interest rates on German government bonds had fallen to negative levels, including at longer maturities. According to DPS this raised questions about the role of such investments in the portfolio. The study also identified inflation as a concern in light of policy responses to the pandemic, including rising debt levels and money supply.

Against that backdrop, the Pensioenfonds PDN board funded an investment in a physical allocation to gold by a 10% reduction in the fund’s exposure to government bonds: half of the proceeds were allocated to gold and the remainder to equities, real estate and infrastructure.

DPS reported lower expected portfolio risk without lower expected returns. The note supplies no subsequent performance comparison for that allocation.

Goldman: Buy Gold Not Bonds— "The 60/40 is Dead"

May 31, 2025
Goldman: Buy Gold Not Bonds— "The 60/40 is Dead"

Goldman Sachs is urging pension funds to replace a portion of their bonds with gold as Treasuries struggle to protect portfolios when stocks fall.

Fairfax Uses Futures Within a Risk-Balanced Portfolio

Fairfax County’s three retirement systems have about US$6.2 billion in assets. Their risk-balanced portfolios hold less equity exposure than traditional 60/40 funds and peers, spreading risk across other asset classes.

Continues here


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