How investors can still ride the gold surge

Pendal

February 2026

(5 minutes read time)

GOLD and silver prices have been riding a rollercoaster since the start of the year, but Pendal portfolio manager Brenton Saunders -- who has worked as a geologist -- argues there are still plenty of opportunities in midcap equities exposed to these metals.

Total gold demand in 2025, including over-the-counter sales, exceeded 5,000 tonnes for the first time, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).

Last year, the safe-haven metal set 53 new all-time price highs which yielded an "unprecedented value" of US$555 billion - a 45 per cent year over year increase, WGC data shows.

The reason: heightened investment activity driven by safe-haven and diversification moves that culminated in the second strongest year on record for exchange traded fund-inflows and elevated central bank buying.

Although central bank purchases slowed from their recent pace, they hit the upper end of the WGC's forecast, totalling 863 tonnes for the year. Bar and coin buying also reached a 12-year high.

This led to the gold price marking its highest annual average at US$3,431 an ounce - a 44% spike year over year.

"Central banks have been buying it hand over fist; retail investors have been buying it hand over fist, the dollar has been weakening, and geopolitics have been pretty elevated," explains Saunders, who manages Pendal's MidCap Fund.

"If you go back to the late 90s/early 2000s central banks were all selling gold. It was an old asset. Nobody needed it anymore. It was defunct," explains Saunders.  

"Most of the OECD countries sold most of their gold reserves. The US was probably the only one that didn't.

"But now you've seen a very broad-based and especially emerging market purchase of gold. So it's re-legitimised gold in a major way in terms of its role as a reserve asset the world over."

Silver, meanwhile, is also a beneficiary of the market ructions, hitting its highest point on record in late January when it rose above US$120 an ounce.  

An additional key driver of the recent price surge in gold's poorer cousin is the high demand for silver as an industrial metal input for solar panels.

"We now use a lot of it, especially in solar panels," says Saunders. "That's probably the biggest industrial use for silver now, but it's always been a second-tier reserve currency investment product that has done the rounds.

"So it's move more recently is obviously being helped by the fact that solar manufacturing is still elevated and now we've seen some investment demand come to the fore."

But while gold and silver prices have run hard, this hasn't necessarily been reflected in the share prices of gold and silver stocks.

'Scepticism gap'

Saunders points to the 'scepticism gap' between the price of the physical metals versus the equities exposed to them.

"Because the move in the gold price has been so rapid the market has been highly sceptical of pricing in that scenario because they're constantly questioning what will happen if the gold price comes back.

"So the equities, not just gold equities but especially in gold, have been quite reticent to reflect in their share prices the full move in the gold price."

However, Saunders argues that the price could drop by US$1,000 and still be at a "bonanza level", meaning gold-exposed companies "could weather quite a big correction in the gold price without much impact to the value of the company's operational considerations".

A "bonanza-level" gold price affords operations more flexibility, allowing them to mine areas that historically were not economic to consider. This increases reserves and profitability.

"That is the one thing that gives me a bit of comfort, and I think investors ultimately a bit of comfort," says Saunders.

"If I look at consensus earnings for gold companies, they're still reflecting a significantly lower gold price than prevails today.

"So that should mean if the gold price stays at the current level, we'll continue to see earnings upgrades and that normally underpins share prices.

"Those are the things that make me hopeful that it should still be a fairly constructive sector from an investment perspective."

Funds operated by this manager:

Pendal MicroCap Opportunities Fund , Pendal Global Select Fund - Class R , Pendal Sustainable Australian Fixed Interest Fund - Class R , Pendal Focus Australian Share Fund , Pendal Horizon Sustainable Australian Share Fund , Regnan Credit Impact Trust Fund , Pendal Sustainable Australian Share Fund , Pendal Sustainable Balanced Fund - Class R , Pendal Multi-Asset Target Return Fund

 This information has been prepared by Pendal Fund Services Limited (PFSL) ABN 13 161 249 332, AFSL No 431426 and is current as at December 8, 2021. PFSL is the responsible entity and issuer of units in the Pendal Multi-Asset Target Return Fund (Fund) ARSN: 623 987 968. A product disclosure statement (PDS) is available for the Fund and can be obtained by calling 1300 346 821 or visiting www.pendalgroup.com. The Target Market Determination (TMD) for the Fund is available at www.pendalgroup.com/ddo. You should obtain and consider the PDS and the TMD before deciding whether to acquire, continue to hold or dispose of units in the Fund. An investment in the Fund or any of the funds referred to in this web page is subject to investment risk, including possible delays in repayment of withdrawal proceeds and loss of income and principal invested. This information is for general purposes only, should not be considered as a comprehensive statement on any matter and should not be relied upon as such. It has been prepared without taking into account any recipient's personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this, recipients should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness having regard to their individual objectives, financial situation and needs. This information is not to be regarded as a securities recommendation. The information may contain material provided by third parties, is given in good faith and has been derived from sources believed to be accurate as at its issue date. While such material is published with necessary permission, and while all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information is complete and correct, to the maximum extent permitted by law neither PFSL nor any company in the Pendal group accepts any responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of this information. Performance figures are calculated in accordance with the Financial Services Council (FSC) standards. Performance data (post-fee) assumes reinvestment of distributions and is calculated using exit prices, net of management costs. Performance data (pre-fee) is calculated by adding back management costs to the post-fee performance. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Any projections are predictive only and should not be relied upon when making an investment decision or recommendation. Whilst we have used every effort to ensure that the assumptions on which the projections are based are reasonable, the projections may be based on incorrect assumptions or may not take into account known or unknown risks and uncertainties. The actual results may differ materially from these projections. For more information, please call Customer Relations on 1300 346 821 8am to 6pm (Sydney time) or visit our website www.pendalgroup.com

The rise of grounded sustainability and why it's here to stay

abrdn

February 2026

(4-minute read)

Funds operated by this manager:

abrdn Sustainable Asian Opportunities Fund , abrdn Emerging Opportunities Fund , abrdn Sustainable International Equities Fund , abrdn Global Corporate Bond Fund (Class A)

Australian Secure Capital Fund - Property Update

Australian Secure Capital Fund

February 2026

(1-minute read)

House prices bounced back in January after a slower December, rising by 0.8% nationally. After slight falls last month, values in Melbourne and Sydney rebounded, while Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Darwin all saw increases of 1.2% or greater. 

More broadly, the national median dwelling value surged by 9.4% over 2025--almost double the 4.9% national rise seen in 2024. Regional markets outperformed capital cities with a 10.3% annual rise and 1% monthly rise, compared to 9.2% and 0.7% rises, respectively, for the capitals.

Across the capital cities, house values in the lower quartile increased by 1.3% in January, compared to a 0.3% rise in the upper quartile.

Source: Cotality HVI, 02 Feb 2026

Funds operated by this manager:

ASCF Select Income Fund , ASCF High Yield Fund , ASCF Premium Capital Fund , ASCF Private Fund

Hedge Clippings | 20 February 2026

With yesterday's continued strong employment figures giving no respite to inflationary pressures, it reinforces the view that interest rates are going to be on hold (at best), or on an upward path over the next six months (at worst). Following the RBA's February meeting, that won't come as a great surprise to most, although it will be unwelcome news for those with a mortgage.

It's not great news for Jim Chalmers either, although being a politician trying to defend the obvious, he wasn't going to admit to that; instead, it was a "reminder of the resilience of our labour market", which is undoubtedly true. Unfortunately, that's not what the RBA would have been wanting to hear. Jim was quick to quote Michele Bullock's comments last week that the state of the labour market was good news for the economy.

Meanwhile, Chalmers was equally quick to denigrate Bullock's predecessor, Philip Lowe, who had the temerity to criticise the government's record when it came to handouts and spending, and productivity growth. Both Chalmers and Albo had a crack at Philip Lowe to try to deflect his comments and criticism by playing the man, and not the ball, which is unsurprising, even if they would be better off listening to Lowe and nearly every other economist and trying to fix the problem.

And their problem is this: The government is addicted to handouts because they help them get re-elected at election time, even though inflation may be higher than it should be as a result. As Paul Keating once famously said, "In the race of life, always back self-interest. At least you know it's trying".

So we're stuck in the slow lane (productivity-wise) and the too-fast lane when it comes to inflation (+3.8% to December), which is outstripping growth in wages, which only grew by 3.4% over the same period.

Once again, Jim Chalmers tried to put a positive spin on it (as he would) by saying that workers are earning more now than they were a few years ago. Unfortunately, they're no better off than they were.

Looking forward, it's likely the RBA will sit on their hands in March, but that may not be the case by May, with NAB and other bank economists expecting further rate rises just as Chalmers delivers his next budget.

Look out!

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