The Palawan Group of Companies said it has seen an increase among younger generations, specifically Generation Zs and millennials, investing in gold amid global economic uncertainties and shifts.
“Millennials are actively investing in gold; that was a big surprise. Now, slowly, we can see some of the Gen Zs also,” Palawan Group of Companies President and Chief Executive Officer Karlo M. Castro told reporters in an interview during a campaign launch.
“Whenever there’s uncertainty in the world, a lot of people, including the younger generation, actually invest in something more tangible and more stable,” he added.
According to Mr. Castro, the younger generation may be buying mini gold bars because gold’s value has risen sharply over the years.
Data from the independent market-information platform Gold Price Z showed that 24-karat gold is priced at around P9,221.64 per gram, up by 0.93% or P85.51 from the day before. Over the past month, gold prices have also increased by P1183.44.
Meanwhile, 22-karat and 18-karat gold are currently priced at approximately P8,453.17 and P6,916.23, respectively.
“Maybe it’s because of the value. People can see the value in investing in gold. Again, as I mentioned, the price of gold almost doubled in the past couple of years,” the Palawan Group executive said.
“If you check the past couple of years, I’m talking about grams, from like P5,000 per gram a year and a half ago to close to P10,000 now,” he added.
With more young customers leaning towards gold as an investment, the Palawan Group said it will offer “tokenized gold”.
Tokenized gold is a digital asset that represents ownership of a specific amount of physical gold stored in a secure vault.
“If you have like P1,000 only or P500, you can buy gold in PalawanPay and start saving, start investing in gold,” Mr. Castro said. “That’s also one thing that we’re eager to launch, and it’s in the pipeline as well.
Palawan Group of Companies is a nationwide network that offers pawning, money remittance, digital wallet, and microinsurance services. It currently has over 3,800 branches nationwide. — Almira Louise S. Martinez