Cheah Cheng Hye, a prominent figure in Asian value investing often referred to as the "Midas Touch" of the stock market, is allocating a significant portion of his personal wealth to gold and advises other investors to follow suit. According to sources familiar with the matter, precious metals constitute approximately a quarter of the assets within the family office managing his $1.4 billion fortune, a substantial increase from the roughly 15% allocation seen just one year ago.
The 71-year-old investor stated in an interview, "I am an exceptionally patient investor—I acquire precious metals with a long-term perspective, not for trading, and regard them as a fundamental component of my life's savings. Over time, the overall investment has grown substantially." Despite gold prices consistently reaching record highs, Cheah's bullish outlook places him as an outlier among ultra-high-net-worth investors, especially when contrasted with the average allocation to gold and precious metals of just 2% reported in UBS's "Global Family Office Report 2025."
Cheah recommends that investors construct a portfolio consisting of 60% equities, 20% bonds, and 20% precious metals, with gold forming the core of the latter segment. He declined to comment on the specific performance or holdings of his family office. Sources indicate that his foray into precious metals began with modest investments in 2008, escalating a decade later with substantial purchases of physical gold ETFs, which significantly increased the scale of his commitment.
These investments have reportedly generated cumulative profits of $251.1 million, representing a remarkable gain of 167%. Beyond ETFs, his strategy also includes investments in gold mining stocks, physical gold bars, and gold coins. Cheah added that he executed some minor trades in 2025, emphasizing that he does not utilize derivatives or structured products and strictly avoids leveraged investments.
Driven by expectations of Federal Reserve monetary easing, political pressures from the Trump administration, and ongoing geopolitical tensions, prices for various metals, including gold, silver, copper, and tin, hit record highs early in the year. Concurrently, some Asian family offices, such as Cavendish Investment Corp., are increasingly opting to trade physical gold directly, bypassing intermediaries, and allocating a considerable part of their portfolios to the metal.
Citing the freezing of Russian assets in 2022 and recent tensions involving Venezuela and Iran, Cheah asserted that the world is entering a period of significant "capital flight." Wealthy Asian families are progressively moving funds back to the region to mitigate risks associated with U.S. sanctions or potential asset seizures, and he views gold as an ideal vehicle for safeguarding this wealth.
He elaborated, "If your gold is stored in a vault or a bank safe deposit box, no one owes you anything. For Asian investors, acquiring physical gold is far more preferable than holding paper gold." His own gold reserves are secured by physical bullion stored in a government warehouse at Hong Kong's airport. Cheah is also bullish on silver, whose price has surged nearly threefold over the past year, significantly outpacing gold's gains.
A former financial journalist from Malaysia, Cheah co-founded Value Partners in 1993, which later became the first asset management firm to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange and saw its assets under management peak at $17 billion in 2017. He currently serves as a director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and chairs its investment committee. The initial capital for his major gold purchases originated from a strategic move in 2015 when he reduced his stake in Value Partners ahead of a significant market correction.
Dissatisfied with storage practices in Western vaults since he began buying gold in 2008, Cheah launched the Value Gold ETF in 2010, which holds its physical gold in Hong Kong's airport. Sources reveal he remains the fund's largest shareholder, holding shares valued at approximately HK$1.3 billion. Looking ahead to 2026, Cheah believes global developments have fully validated his investment thesis.
"Geopolitical factors—the tensions in Venezuela, the Russia-Ukraine war—are fueling growing demand for gold and silver," he stated. "So far, reality has confirmed my theory."
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