It's often said that gold is the investment to go to in uncertain geopolitical times. Well, times don't come much more uncertain than these. So is it time to build an allocation to the precious metal?

There's no doubt that the future is hard to read. Whether it's Brexit, Trump, French and German elections, Greece, Syria or – the current cause of particular concern – North Korea, the world order is volatile and extremely difficult to predict.

But is it true that this helps gold? The argument is that when other asset classes are struggling, gold goes up, and that it presents a useful hedge against volatility.