BullionVault, the online gold and silver exchange, has found that gold sentiment among private investors held near 4-year lows in July, according to its latest Gold Investor Index reading.

Gold sentiment among private investors held near four-year lows in July, as demand from larger accounts stayed strong, according to fresh data from BullionVault, the online gold and silver exchange.

Continued demand from larger investors grew total client holdings by 0.8 per cent to a “new record by weight” at 33.0 tonnes, the firm said today.

Overall, gold ended July 2014 at $1,285 per ounce, beating all other major asset classes for 2014 so far but still erasing half of June's 5 per cent gain.

“Greater than the gold reserves of Hong Kong, Ireland, Qatar and the Czech Republic combined, all that gold is privately owned and vaulted in specialist non-bank custody in five global locations,” BullionVault said.

The data is based on BullionVault's Gold Investor Index, which measures the number of net buyers against net sellers over the month as a proportion of all existing gold owners. It inched up to 51.9 from June's 52-month low of 51.2.

Based on investor activity, rather than surveyed intentions, BullionVault's sentiment index peaked at 71.7 when gold hit $1,900 per ounce in September 2011. A reading of 50.0 would indicate an equal number of buyers and sellers across the month.

“Gold continues to see a return of larger investors, but the broader public remains shy of gold investing despite this year's jump in geopolitical risk,” said Adrian Ash head of research at BullionVault. “For investors wanting to diversify risk by location as well as asset, Zurich remains the stand-out choice among BullionVault users, but Singapore continues to grow fast.”

Meanwhile, BullionVault users' silver holdings were flat for the second month running after May's strong addition to a record high of 462 tonnes.