“Absolutely very little,” Freris remarked bluntly when asked about the sharp cuts seen in gold and silver. “People observing precious metals are doing it as safe haven assets. I am afraid I do not believe there are any safe haven assets and therefore, I do not spend too much time on that.”
He pointed out that both metals have seen erratic moves, saying, “Silver after it hit the 4,000, it fell, so did silver. I have no idea why people buy those things on the full knowledge that the only way they are going to make money is if somebody is greater fool than they are.”
For Freris, gold remains a speculative play rather than an investment. “If my clients want to buy gold, I say absolutely do buy gold on the absolute basis that the only thing you are going to make is capital gains or capital losses because gold does not produce any income. It’s such an absurd way of making an investment. I’m buying it not because I think it has intrinsic value, but because I expect somebody else to buy.”
Defence Stocks and Common Sense Investing
Freris, known for his straightforward and often contrarian views, shifted focus to income-generating assets. When asked about his current positioning across geographies, he said, “I am going to be incredibly blunt not because I know better than anybody else, I simply use a little bit of common sense. I am afraid the nickname is going to be Andrew ‘buy guns’ Freris or Andrew ‘buy defence stocks’ Freris. I have been saying that for three years and I am not changing.”
Citing recent global geopolitical shifts, he referenced former U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan, noting, “The first thing he said was to congratulate them for spending a lot more money on defence. So should India. You should be spending a lot more on defence. Unfortunately, that is the way common sense tells you the world is going.”
Asia’s Powerhouses: South Korea and Taiwan
Among the Asian markets, South Korea stands out as Freris’ top pick. “South Korea is the best performing index possibly in the world. It is something like 53% year-to-date on US dollar terms, massively outperforming the S&P,” he highlighted. He attributes this strength to the country’s balanced exposure to artificial intelligence and defence. “This is based on a combination of both artificial intelligence in terms of software and in terms of hardware because Samsung is the biggest producer of microchips in the world and it has done some nice deals with American artificial intelligence companies.”
Taiwan, he added, follows closely behind. “Taiwan is possibly the second best performing index in Asia. The reason behind that is exports on technology, on chips, and partially on artificial intelligence. Despite the still hanging potential threat of a toughening posture from China, I still like Taiwan.”
China, Europe, and the Overvalued U.S. Market
Freris acknowledged China’s steady growth at 4.8% but called it a “very difficult call.” He said, “The plenum has decided that more money should be spent on consumption. Still, it’s a big solid economy — not very exciting but with some potential leeway upwards.”
In contrast, his views on the U.S. were starkly dismissive. “I will not buy the main stock index for a very-very simple reason — more than 30% of it is accounted by about five stocks. Come on, how can I possibly buy an index which is based on five stocks and all of them are on artificial intelligence?”
“End of story, I do not touch American indexes not because I hate the United States — that is absurd. I like making money for my clients, end of story.”
Bonds and Inflation: A Market Waiting to Be Proved Wrong
Turning to fixed income, Freris remained cautious. “We will see if they are going to cut rates because I would like for them to explain to us how come the last three numbers we had on CPI and core CPI are firmly on 3%,” he said.
He believes inflationary pressures remain sticky and that rate cuts may not be sustainable. “If you are asking me what they are going to do, my reaction is, frankly I do not care. Policy steps are taken against any relevant kind of decision making.”
“I do not want to push my clients into saying look they are cutting interest rates, buy bonds, only to find out in six months’ time that inflation is not down, they are now thinking of increasing bonds and the market will tank.”
Europe’s Silent Outperformance
Freris concluded by highlighting Europe’s resilience. “The EU stock market has been performing extremely well despite the mess in France. Germany’s position is slightly better and actually the UK has not been doing too bad. All of them have outperformed the S&P.”
He dismissed the obsession with record-breaking indices, saying, “The S&P is up, but because it is breaking records, people tend to forget that I do not care if it breaks 300 times past records. The level of the index has become God and this is completely absurd.”
Conclusion
Andrew Freris’ message is clear: forget the glitter of gold, beware of inflated U.S. indices, and look eastward — toward Asia’s balance of innovation and defence. In a world of overvalued markets and policy uncertainty, common sense, he insists, is the rarest and most profitable asset of all.