Coutts, the UK-based private bank, is looking to cut its gold exposure and switch to assets such as equities because it is taking a more upbeat view on the global economy.

“Though we still see value in holding it [gold] in our portfolios, we are looking to trim our gold exposure in favour of assets that are more geared to economic growth,” the bank said in a regular Wealth Watch report last week.

Gold holdings via exchange-traded funds have dropped by 140 tonnes so far this year, the bank said, while net gold futures positions have dropped by 100 tonnes this year.

At the end of last week, spot gold fetched around $1,580 per ounce; that compares to the record high of $1,921 per ounce in September 2011. The yellow metal is being caught in a “tug of war”, Coutts says, between investor selling and central bank buying. Since December last year, demand to hold gold as a hedge against risk has lessened as some concerns about the global economy have begun to ease.

Quantitative easing – or money printing – appears to be boosting the US economy, Coutts continued, and argued that it did not expect to see significant appreciation in the gold price in the near term.

“In our view, gold still plays an important role in portfolios given continuing currency devaluation and near-zero interest rates in developed economies, and inflation risks from economic policies such as QE,” it said.

“Gold also remains more attractive than other traditional stores of value such as government bonds. Still, we are looking for opportunities to reduce gold holdings further in favour of assets linked to economic growth, such as equities,” it concluded.