After accurately avoiding the peak, the star fund manager of Fidelity International said: if the gold price drops another 5%-7%, I will heavily buy in.

Against the backdrop of recent intense volatility in the global gold market, George Efstathopoulos, a fund manager at Fidelity International managing around $3 billion in assets, significantly reduced his gold holdings a few days before the precious metal experienced its biggest drop in forty years. Now, he plans to buy again. "If the gold market sees another 5% to 7% pullback, I will buy heavily," Efstathopoulos said in an interview on Tuesday. "The current market has squeezed out a lot of bubbles, but the mid-term structural uptrend in gold remains solid." Efstathopoulos assists in managing income and growth strategy portfolios at Fidelity International with around $3 billion in assets. He pointed out that the core factors that drove gold prices to historic highs have not disappeared. "Inflation continues to be stubborn," he analyzed, adding that a weakening dollar is another key driving factor. Meanwhile, large-scale gold purchases by central banks and investor diversification adjustments in U.S. asset allocations are jointly creating a positive trend driving gold prices up. According to a recent survey by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, more than half of the surveyed central banks plan to increase their gold reserves in the next 12 months to enhance their risk resilience capabilities, a trend that is increasing demand for gold as a safe haven hedge. Efstathopoulos's fund achieved a 20% return last year, mainly building its gold exposure through diversified channels such as Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange-Traded Commodities (ETCs), and gold mining stocks. "From an asset allocation perspective, gold has significant strategic value in effectively smoothing portfolio fluctuations," said the fund manager. He disclosed plans to increase the gold allocation in the fund to about 5%, stating, "We aim to strategically build positions during pullbacks." Last week, shortly after gold prices reached a historic record of $5,595.47 per ounce, Efstathopoulos quickly reduced the gold allocation in his portfolio from 5% to around 3%. This move coincided with market volatility over potential nominees for the Federal Reserve Chair some investors were concerned that policy hawk Kevin Warsh could be nominated, leading to a plunge in gold prices last Friday, and the fund had already completed profit-taking. Despite driving gold prices to historical highs due to concerns about currency devaluation, Federal Reserve independence, and geopolitical tensions increasing safe haven demand, the fund manager chose to sell, successfully avoiding the sharp correction triggered by extreme market overbuying. On Wednesday, the spot gold price briefly rose by 2.8% to above $5,080 per ounce, after jumping more than 6% on the previous trading day. The metal hit a historic high of $5,595.47 per ounce on January 29th. With bargain hunters appearing after the historic price drop, this precious metal has rebounded for two consecutive days. Notably, after the recent sharp drop in gold prices, Efstathopoulos was one of the first well-known global fund managers to express optimism about the future of gold. Some banks, including Deutsche Bank, share the same view, with the latter sticking to its forecast of gold rising to $6,000 per ounce. Meanwhile, several top Wall Street investment banks remain optimistic about the future performance of gold. UBS Group noted in a recent research report that with expectations of declining real yields, gold prices are expected to hit a high of $6,200 per ounce by 2026; JPMorgan Chase has even set a positive target of $6,300.