Spotlight on Marissa Salim, Senior Research Lead, APAC, World Gold Council
Global Thought Leader Spotlight
Marissa Salim, Senior Research Lead, APAC, World Gold Council
In my role as Senior Research Lead at World Gold Council, I am responsible for making gold research more accessible and relevant to a wide range of stakeholders - from institutional investors to industry players. I work closely with our regional teams to deliver timely insights on gold’s performance, macro drivers, and evolving role across markets.
A big part of what I do involves helping investors understand how gold fits into today’s shifting investment landscape through research and insights - especially within portfolios that include alternatives or are looking to opportunities in Asia Pacific.
Key themes driving risk and opportunity in gold
Structural central bank demand: One of the most underappreciated drivers of gold in recent years has been the structural buying from emerging market central banks. This isn’t just cyclical or opportunistic, it reflects a strategic rethinking of reserves amid rising geopolitical tensions and questions around dollar dominance. The persistence of this demand establishes a strong floor for gold, differentiating it from other asset classes tied to growth or risk sentiment.
Liquidity as a premium: In an environment where institutional portfolios are increasingly allocated to illiquid alternatives, gold’s ability to provide real-time pricing and liquidity is gaining renewed relevance. It’s not just about hedging - gold can serve as a tactical funding source or liquidity buffer when distributions slow or redemptions rise. That flexibility is becoming more valuable in today’s private market-heavy portfolios.
Decoupling from traditional drivers: While gold has historically been influenced by real yields and the US dollar, recent price action suggests a growing divergence from these drivers. This decoupling may reflect a shift in market structure, with long-term strategic holders – such as central banks – playing a bigger role and dampening gold’s sensitivity to short-term macro moves. While traditional relationships tend to reassert themselves over time, the takeaway is not to dismiss macro signals, but to recognise that they may matter less in the short run - opening up space for more nuanced and forward-looking positioning.
Portfolio resilience across regimes: As market regimes shift more frequently, from inflation spikes to rate shocks to geopolitical dislocations, gold’s ability to adapt and perform across environments remains a key advantage. It’s not about gold outperforming everything; it’s about what gold does when other assets don’t. For long-term investors, that asymmetric response is core to building durable portfolios.
Implications for sophisticated investors
For sophisticated investors, especially those with growing allocations to private assets, gold can play a very practical role. It's liquid, uncorrelated, and performs well in stressed market conditions - all traits that complement portfolios with longer lock-up periods or higher illiquidity.
We’re also seeing a shift in how gold is viewed, not just as a tactical hedge against inflation or geopolitical risk, but as a strategic asset that holds its value across cycles. This could be relevant in today’s world where macro uncertainty is more persistent than episodic.
From a portfolio construction point of view, gold’s flexibility across implementation types; bars and coins, ETFs, and over-the-counter (OTC), makes it relatively easy to integrate. It tends to pair well with both traditional and alternative assets, smoothing out return profiles without sacrificing liquidity. It’s less about timing the market, and more about understanding your investment horizon and how gold behaves when other things don’t.
Marissa will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Family Office Investment Forum, taking place on Tuesday, 9 September 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria. To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan@globalii.com.au.
Marissa Salim, Senior Research Lead, APAC, World Gold Council
Marissa joined the World Gold Council in 2024 and works in the Research team as Senior Research Lead, APAC.
Previously, she worked at Preqin where she oversaw the development and implementation of research initiatives for private market investments for the APAC region. Prior to that, Marissa worked at Thomson Reuters and Mizuho Financial Group covering alternatives investments research across Asia Pacific.
Marissa has a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the National University of Singapore.
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