Gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) grew by 9.1 t during November, World Gold Council (WGC) data showed on Wednesday.
With global gold-backed ETFs collectively holding 2 357 t, funds added 198 t of gold, equivalent to $8.5-billion, so far this year, which represents an increase of 8.3% in global assets under management from December 2016.
European funds continued to lead inflows and captured 75% of global inflows this year, adding 143 t ($5.7-billion, or 14% of assets under management) of gold to their holdings in 2017.
Germany-based ETFs accounted for 34% of global net inflows in 2017. Xetra-Gold alone accumulated 53.3 t ($2.1-billion) – a 49% increase year-to-date. However, these funds’ growth has halted over the past two months, according to the WGC.
Investors in European funds added 15.8 t, or about $622-million, while North America saw a second month of outflows of 5.4 t or $198-million.
Various individual funds are highlighted in the report. iShares Physical Gold ETC added 7 t, worth $292-million, or 3.1% of assets under management; Physical Gold Euro Hedged ETC added 5.3 t, worth $195-million, 14% of assets under management; UBS ETF CH-Gold CHF hedged added 4.2 t, at $163-million, 19% of assets under management; and Physical Gold ETC EUR added 2.3 t, at $95-million, and representing 18% of assets under management.
Meanwhile, SPDR Gold Shares led outflows worldwide and in North America with 11.2 t ($451-million, or 1.3% of assets under management) coming out of the fund.