Clarity

Episode 8: Avi Krawitz, Independent Diamond Industry Thought Leader and Influencer

Welcome to the Diamond Standard podcast Clarity. On Episode Eight of the Diamond Standard podcast Clarity, Managing Director Amelia Bourdeau is joined by Avi Krawitz, a top diamond industry thought leader and influencer. After working as a business journalist for The Jerusalem Post, Avi stumbled into the diamond industry during a job interview with Martin Rapaport, founder of the Rapaport Group and its widely used Rapaport Price List. Starting out as a reporter on www.rapaport.com [http://www.rapaport.com] and Rapaport Magazine, Avi soon offered more in-depth analysis about diamond industry news, events, and market conditions. He now ranks among the leading voices in the industry, having hosted the popular Rapaport Diamond Podcast and the quarterly Diamond Trends webinars, and authored the monthly Rapaport Research Report, among countless other reports, articles and statements. Now, Avi is bringing that experience to the wider industry as an independent consultant, journalist, and content creator, using his unique voice to help others understand the diamond market, and experience the industry through creative storytelling. We know you will enjoy this conversation, which covers: * 1:52 - Putting the natural diamond price decline in context. * 5:00 - Discussion of inventory levels at the midstream. India's jewelry industry asks for a voluntary two month import ban on rough diamonds. * 12:15 - Looking ahead to the holiday sales season. * 15:13 - Signet's engagement (wedding) projection for 2024. Discussion of the importance of engagement ring sales for the diamond industry. * 19:40 - Lab grown diamond ("LGD"). discussion * 25:40 - LGD engagement ring price scenarios * 28:00 - DeBeers Group's Lightbox experiment with LGD engagement rings * 32:40 - When would price fall cause diamond mines stop mining production? * 35:30 - DeBeers brings back "A diamond is forever" campaign * 40:22 - Potential G7 sanctions on Russian diamonds * 48:00 - Natural diamond production coming offline by 2030. You can find Clarity’s Episode Eight with Avi Krawitz on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the Diamond Standard Institutional Media page. * Find Diamond Standard: https://www.diamondstandard.co/ [https://www.diamondstandard.co/] * Find the Avi Krawitz [https://www.avikrawitz.com/]: https://www.avikrawitz.com/ [https://www.avikrawitz.com/]

Episode 7: Joseph Cavatoni, World Gold Council

Welcome to the Diamond Standard podcast Clarity. In Episode Seven, host Managing Director Amelia Bourdeau is joined by Joseph (Joe) Cavatoni, Market Strategist North America, World Gold Council. Joseph (Joe) Cavatoni joined the World Gold Council in September 2016 to lead business strategy for the Americas which includes oversight of investor relationships, product solutions, research, and marketing as well as the global ETFs platform. He also serves as Principal Executive Officer for the World Gold Trust Services, LLC; President of WGC USA Asset Management Company, LLC; Board Member and President of WGC (US) Holdings, Inc.; and as a member of the Executive Committee. During his three-decade career in the financial services industry, Joe has developed and demonstrated expertise in the areas of global capital markets, exchange traded funds, asset management, trading, and business/platform development. He also spent more than 15 years working in Asia. Prior to joining the World Gold Council, Joe was a managing director at BlackRock where he was responsible for iShares Capital Markets (Americas) and was a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. His responsibilities also included product development and management as well as running a global team. Prior to BlackRock, he held senior positions at UBS, Merrill Lynch and Bank of America focused on equity derivatives trading, securities financing and lending. You will enjoy and find value in this conversation on the gold market which includes: * 1:00 – Stepping back - looking at central bank and retail gold buying in 2022. * 3:25 – What is supporting the gold prices despite high US bond yields. * 6:00 – Further unpacking central bank buying. * 8:00 – What are institutions doing re gold and allocation in a portfolio. * 12:20 – When Fed signals that rate cuts are imminent, how this could play out for gold. * 13:05 – Drivers of gold demand. Gold's diversification properties in a portfolio. * 16:00 – 2024 US Presidential election, geopolitical risk, the wall of worry, and gold. * 20:30 – Risk factors need to be managed. * 23:40 – Seasonality for gold. Some discussion on China and gold. * 25:14 – The World Gold Council’s 247 initiative to modernize the gold market. Gold bar integrity – tracking and tracing through source and bringing gold inventory worldwide into a digital ledger. You can find Clarity’s Episode Seven with Joe Cavatoni on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the Diamond Standard Institutional Media page. Find Diamond Standard: https://www.diamondstandard.co/ [https://www.diamondstandard.co/] Find the World Gold Council: https://www.gold.org/ [https://www.gold.org/what-we-do]

Episode 6: Chris Marsh, Exante Data

Guest: Chris Marsh, Exante Data Twitter: @generaltheorist @exantedata Host: Amelia Bourdeau Twitter: @ameliabourdeau @diamondstandard Chris Marsh holds a PhD in international macroeconomics and has worked at the International Monetary Fund and in finance for 15 years. An expert on IMF financial programming, Chris started The General Theorist [https://thegeneraltheorist.com/] blog in 2017 which focuses on the intersection between money and the balance of payments. His interests are global macro-financial linkages, central bank balance sheets, debt sustainability and emerging markets. Recording date: July 21, 2023 Podcast Markers * 1:13 - What has driven inflation: the pandemic, other shocks and increases in household wealth * 5:52 - US June CPI * 10:13 - UK inflation * 15:25 - Eurozone inflation * 20:00 - Transitory inflation discussion * 26:11 - Importance of expectations * 29:57 - Drivers of inflation in the future - 5 to 10 years out * 36:36 - Demographic shift Find Diamond Standard: https://www.diamondstandard.co/ [https://www.diamondstandard.co/]

Episode 5: Philip Newman, Metals Focus

Welcome to the Diamond Standard podcast Clarity. In Episode Five, hosts Managing Director Amelia Bourdeau and Director Neshiva Chan are joined by Philip Newman, Managing Director - Metals Focus. Note: This episode was recorded June 15, 2023, the day after the Fed paused at the June FOMC, as referenced in our discussion. At that time, fed fund futures expected one more 25bp rate hike and was moving toward pricing out rate cuts for 2023. Currently, a 25bp rate hike is priced in for the July FOMC and approximately a 15% probability of an additional 25bp rate hike in for the September FOMC. Rate cuts have been priced out for 2023 and approximately 150bp of rate cuts are priced in for 2024. So, the expectations have shifted to be less hawkish ahead for 2024. Post the downside surprise for US June core CPI, which came in at 4.8% y/y this week, fed fund futures priced in more rate cuts for 2024. We know you will enjoy this conversation - it is wide ranging, covering: 1:00 - Metals Focus background and proprietary data 3:33 - Gold report and IPMI conference 5:55 - Gold price volatility key for dealers 8:36 - Gold investment demand and institutional allocations 11:53 - Fed outlook and gold price 13:40 - Central bank demand for gold 15:25 - Institutional demand and impact on the gold price 17:08 - Global growth - China risk 19:08 - Challenges forecasting gold price this year 21:35 - Discussion: de-dollarization, why central banks are buying gold, Central Bank of Turkey selling gold 27:55 - Luxury demand for jewelry 31:04 - Gold demand and price forecast components for 2023 36:54 - Crypto world and impact on gold Recorded June 15, 2023 Find Metals Focus: https://www.metalsfocus.com/ [https://www.metalsfocus.com/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetalsFocus [https://twitter.com/MetalsFocus] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/metals-focus-ltd/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/metals-focus-ltd/] Diamond Standard: https://www.diamondstandard.co/ [https://www.diamondstandard.co/]

Episode 4: Michael DiRienzo, The Silver Institute

Podcast Markers 2:26 - Silver demand 6:28 - Silver jewelry 10:00 - Institutional vs retail investors in silver 14:30 - Silver deficit discussion 17:04 - Silver prices20:07 - Silver’s duality - precious and industrial 22:59 - Performance of silver in recessions 29:40 - Silver supply 32:10 - Silver recycling 34:04 - Institutional in 2022 and 2023 Find The Silver Institute: The Silver Institute: https://www.silverinstitute.org/ [https://www.silverinstitute.org/] World Silver Survey: https://www.silverinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/World-Silver-Survey-2023.pd [https://www.silverinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/World-Silver-Survey-2023.pd] Subscribe to Silver Institute’s free monthly newsletter here https://www.silverinstitute.org/contact-us/ [https://www.silverinstitute.org/contact-us/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dirienzo-56b02a1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dirienzo-56b02a1/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/SilverInstitute [https://twitter.com/SilverInstitute] Find Diamond Standard: https://www.diamondstandard.co/ [https://www.diamondstandard.co/] Sign up for market commentary: https://www.diamondstandard.co/market-commentary [https://www.diamondstandard.co/market-commentary] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/diamondstandard/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/diamondstandard/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/DiamondStandard [https://twitter.com/DiamondStandard] Recording date: May 10, 2023 Guest: Michael DiRienzo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dirienzo-56b02a1/] Host: Amelia Bourdeau [https://twitter.com/ameliabourdeau?lang=en], Managing Director, Diamond Standard