--- title: "Gold has gained 35% in a year. But can it beat equities over the long term?" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/296665722.md" description: "While gold gained 35% in the past year compared to equities' decline, long-term data shows equities generally outperform gold over 10, 15, and 20-year periods by about 2% annually. FundsIndia's report highlights that while gold offers diversification and short-term gains, equities are better for long-term wealth creation. Experts advise against choosing one asset exclusively, emphasizing that portfolio roles and holding periods matter more than recent performance." datetime: "2026-08-22T04:02:58.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/296665722.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296665722.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/296665722.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Gold has gained 35% in a year. But can it beat equities over the long term? Gold is up 35.3 percent over the past year. The Nifty 50 Total Return Index (TRI), meanwhile, is down 5.4 percent. Look at those numbers alone and gold is the clear winner. But what happens when you stretch the investment period to 10, 15 or even 20 years? Does gold continue to beat equities? The answer looks quite different. Data from FundsIndia's Wealth Conversations August 2026 report shows that while gold has beaten Indian equities over several shorter periods, equities have generally had the upper hand as the investment horizon gets longer. **What happens over 10, 15 and 20 years?** FundsIndia compared the performance of gold with the Nifty 50 TRI across different investment periods, starting from January 2000. The numbers show gold's annualised outperformance or underperformance relative to equities. So, a positive number means gold delivered higher returns, while a negative number means the Nifty 50 TRI did better. ![gold's annualised outperformance or underperformance relative to equities.](https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://s3.tradingview.com/news/image/moneycontrol:485c687e4094b-1d0fa78ad2ce23fa973c7061f5a1d363-resized.webp?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg) FundsIndia Wealth Conversations, August 2026 Over shorter periods, the results can swing dramatically. For one-year holding periods, for instance, gold's performance relative to equities ranged from an underperformance of as much as 65 percent to an outperformance of as much as 79 percent, depending on when the investment was made. But stretch the holding period and the picture starts changing. Across 10-year periods, gold underperformed the Nifty 50 TRI by around 2 percentage points annually on average. Over 15-year periods, the average underperformance was again around 2 percentage points a year. The pattern continues over 20-year periods, where gold also lagged equities by around 2 percentage points annually on average, according to the report. A gap of 2 percentage points may not sound particularly large. But when returns compound over 10, 15 or 20 years, that difference can have a much bigger impact on how much wealth an investment eventually creates. **Does that make equities better than gold?** Not necessarily, because gold and equities do different jobs in a portfolio. Equities are typically used for long-term wealth creation. Gold can provide diversification and may perform well during periods when equities are struggling. The past year is a good example. While Indian equities delivered negative returns, gold gained more than 35 percent. "Leadership across asset classes keeps rotating, and no single one stays on top every year," said Jiral Mehta, Senior Manager, Research at FundsIndia. That is also why comparing the two only on the basis of which one has delivered the highest recent return can be misleading. **What should investors take away?** Gold's 35 percent one-year return can look particularly attractive today, especially against a negative return from Indian equities. But the long-term data tells a different story. Gold has had periods of significant outperformance, but that advantage has historically become less consistent as the holding period gets longer. Over 10, 15 and 20-year periods, equities have generally come out ahead on average. For investors, the takeaway is not to choose one and abandon the other. Instead, the numbers show why the role of an asset in the portfolio, and the period for which you plan to hold it, can matter more than which asset is topping the return charts today. **Disclaimer** *Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. 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