Up 44% over the last year, gold has been by far the best-performer across a basket of 12 leading global asset classes over the period, according to the BlackRock Investment Institute, most notably trouncing the 22% return for the S&P 500 over the last year, including reinvested dividends.

Gold prices jumped more than 1% on Monday to hit a record high, as safe-haven demand surged on fears of a global trade war after U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariff plans. Spot gold was up 1.