Mark van der Sluys, founder and Managing Director of Bullionmark, and scholar of economic and monetary history, believes gold and silver are re establishing their 5000 year role as mainstream financial assets.

"Whether it's geopolitical tensions, economic turmoil, uncontrolled government spending, excessive debt, fragility of the financial system, population growth, resource scarcity or simply declining mine supply we have the perfect storm for gold and silver to again become the centre of the monetary universe. Despite eight consecutive years of rising prices gold still represents less than 0.2% of the worlds wealth, down from 5% in 1971 and over 30% in 1932. Given the inelasticity of supply, even a small shift in global asset allocation could result in dramatic upward movements in price. The recent announcement that the Chinese government doubled their gold reserves is extremely significant and revalidates gold as the ultimate money, that is, a medium of exchange, universally accepted AND a store or value. How many paper currencies can claim the latter?"

Mark van der Sluys ( May 2009)

In addition to his role at Bullionmark, Mark authors The Destruction of Money and advises professional investors and institutions on the gold and silver market. Mark has a Masters (MBA) majoring in Finance and Economics from the University of Sydney.