Is gold worth its weight amid our demat assets?

It has been a buzzy buy in recent times, with its price soaring over the past year. Investors, however, are likely to be better served by going for intangible forms of this precious metal

Gold is heavy. Moving it is an onerous task. Yet, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been on a mission to haul its holdings across the high seas into vaults within the country. As an RBI report reveals, over 510 of the 854 tonnes held in reserve are now in India, with much of the rest lying with the Bank of England and Bank for International Settlements. At the end of 2021-22, only 39% of our 760-tonne stack was in domestic custody. Today, it is 60%. Not only has our central bank been buying more, it seems keen on actual possession. As the global price of gold shot up over the past year, a rise that generated a buzz around it among retail buyers, enlarged tonnage seems to shine out as a worthy endeavor. But should households follow suit by locking away more of this shiny stuff in their own lockers?