Gold’s status as a safe-haven asset class has returned to the fore in recent days – but not yet so as to boost the price sharply - as geopolitical tensions surrounding Russia’s absorption of Crimea escalated, new figures from the financial sector show.

Gold’s status as a safe-haven asset class has returned to the fore in recent days – but not yet so as to boost the price sharply - as geopolitical tensions surrounding Russia’s absorption of Crimea escalated, new figures from the financial sector show.

According to ETF Securities, a firm operating in the exchange-traded funds and products sector, long gold ETFs – those which reflect performance of investors bullish on the yellow metal – continue to see inflows.

“We believe the current global environment will remain supportive of defensive assets, despite the correction in the gold price following the more hawkish than expected comments by new [US] Fed Chair Yellen last week,” the firm said in a weekly note on trends in markets.

The gold price has fallen sharply from its record level of $1,920 in September, 2011, but fell sharply last year, partly due to the belief that the wind-down of US central bank money-printing (aka quantitative easing) will boost the dollar. As of midday yesterday, gold fetched around $1,314 per ounce (source: BullionVault). To reach an all-time high in inflation-adjusted terms, however, gold needs to move above $2,193 an ounce.

Long silver ETPs [exchange traded products] also benefited, with $5.6 million of inflows, as investors looked to add defensive positions with its correlation to gold holding strong. Palladium ETPs, on the other hand, logged $9.5 million of outflows as the price hit the highest level since August 2011.

In February, in its latest quarterly report on the gold industry, the World Gold Council reported that 2013 was a year of contrast between the different elements of gold investment. Demand for bars and coins surged to an all-time high of 1,654 tonnes.  Investors took advantage of lower prices, while large-scale selling of more tactical ETF positions by western investors generated outflows of 880.8 tonnes.