Gold Diverging From Fine Wine as Bullion Investors Lose Faith

(Bloomberg) - Gold and wine prices that tracked each other in the past decade amid demand for alternative assets are now diverging after bullion slumped into a bear market as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value.

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 Index (LIVX100) tripled in the past 10 years and gold advanced fourfold. The wine gauge rose 5.9 percent this year as bullion slid 17 percent. Credit Suisse Group AG said May 16 that the metal may drop to $1,100 an ounce in a year, or 21 percent less than now. The Wine Investment Fund, which manages about $50 million of assets, expects the Liv-ex gauge to rise by about another 7.6 percent by the end of December.

Demand for gold, wine and other alternative assets gained in the past several years as equities retreated and bond yields tumbled to record lows as central banks printed money on an unprecedented scale. Gold held through exchange-traded products exceeded all but two of the world’s central-bank reserves. Holdings fell 18 percent this year as equities rallied on mounting confidence that economic growth is strengthening.