![\"Brexit\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782764121_484_0x0.jpg\")
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United Kingdom leaving the European Union represented in puzzle pieces.<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, the world watched the United Kingdom vote to walk away from the European Union.<\/p>\n
While the political class was clutching its pearls and every talking head on television was promising Armageddon by Christmas, I told you something different. I told you that when the establishment panics, the serious investor reaches for gold.<\/p>\n
Since the 2016 referendum, the yellow metal has tripled in price. It broke through $5,000 an ounce earlier this year before catching a breather near $4,000.<\/p>\n
Over the same stretch, we\u2019ve lived through a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, two energy crises, a land war in Europe and a trade war. Through all of it, gold has kept its head while governments lost theirs.<\/p>\n
Gold has outperformed British and European stocks since Brexit<\/p>\n
U.S. Global Investors<\/p>\n
To observe Brexit\u2019s 10th anniversary, I\u2019m sharing four lessons, which have almost nothing to do with the UK and everything to do with how you protect your wealth.<\/p>\n
#1 \u2013 Uncertainty is the Fear Trade\u2019s best friend.<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, I couldn\u2019t have told you that a virus would shut down the planet, that Russia would torch Europe\u2019s energy market, or that the UK would cycle through prime ministers like paper towels. Nobody could.<\/p>\n
But I didn\u2019t need to. All I needed to know was that we\u2019d entered an age of constant uncertainty, and that gold helped investors manage it.<\/p>\n
This is what I\u2019ve long called the Fear Trade. It\u2019s why central banks continue to stock up on bullion. And it\u2019s why I still recommend a 10% weighting in gold, with 5% in physical gold, 5% in gold miners. Boring? Maybe. But the boring trade tripled, outperforming British and European stocks.<\/p>\n
#2 \u2013 Sometimes sovereignty comes with a cost.<\/p>\n
Some critics like to point out that Brexit failed to usher in booming growth, as many people in the Leave camp argued would happen. In fact, a Stanford economist estimated<\/strong><\/a> that the British economy is likely 8% smaller today than it otherwise would have been.<\/p>\n That said, I don\u2019t believe Brexit was purely an economic policy. It was a constitutional decision, a vote to reclaim British government and culture from a committee of unelected bureaucrats. As I wrote 10 years ago,<\/strong><\/a> \u201cBritish citizens and businesses have grown fed up with an avalanche of failed socialist rules and regulations from Brussels, responsible for bringing growth and innovation to a grinding halt.\u201d<\/p>\n I appreciate how Michael Caine put it. The legendary British film actor, 93, said in a 2017 interview<\/strong><\/a> that he voted for Brexit because he\u2019d \u201crather be a poor master than a rich servant.\u201d<\/p>\n Ten years ago, Britain elected to be masters instead of servants. Whether you think that was wise or foolish, it\u2019s the one thing that an economist\u2019s spreadsheet can\u2019t measure.<\/p>\n #3 \u2013 Don\u2019t forget to collect your dividends.<\/p>\n To reiterate, a post-Brexit, Thatcher-style boom never arrived. But it\u2019s important to understand why it never arrived.<\/p>\n The inconvenient truth is that, after voting to leave the bloc, Britain has barely used the freedoms it fought for. According to the Cato Institute, the UK government still has close to 7,000 European laws on the books.<\/strong><\/a> The bonfire of red tape never got lit.<\/p>\n And the political class? It burned through five prime ministers in 10 years, one of whom lasted all of 49 days.<\/p>\n Brexit and political uncertainty<\/p>\n U.S. Global Investors<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say Westminster has been completely idle. They reformed the EU\u2019s strict Solvency II insurance rules, and since the referendum, London\u2019s insurance market has doubled to $187 billion,<\/strong><\/a> the largest in the world. The City, London\u2019s financial district\u2014which doomsayers swore would dry up\u2014is instead near record employment,<\/strong><\/a> posting record bank profits and ranks as the number two destination<\/strong><\/a> for global capital anywhere on the planet, hosting some $16 trillion of it.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s services sector\u2014financial, business, travel and tourism\u2014has also held up nicely,<\/strong><\/a> with exports to EU countries growing approximately 60% from 2015 to 2025.<\/p>\n UK services exports to EU and non-EU countries<\/p>\n U.S. Global Investors#4 \u2013 The crowd is often loudest right when it\u2019s the most wrong.<\/p>\n