During the past 18 months we have seen a massive shift in holders of Gold. The following 3 charts tell the story quite well:
Retail investors and portfolio managers have dumped more than 1,000 tonnes of gold from gold exchange traded funds during the last two years. Meanwhile, central banks have purchased more than 600 tonnes of gold during the same time frame:
Two countries that have been battling rapidly depreciating currencies, Russia and Turkey, have made large additions to their official central bank gold holdings over the past few years:
While the media has oftentimes made a big deal about increased jewelry and coin purchases during the past 18 months, the vast majority of net gold purchases have been made by central banks. Who is the smart money? Gold ETF sellers or central bank buyers?