The World Gold Council (WGC) reports that gold exchange-traded funds (ETF) lost 2%, or $4.6-billion, of holdings in February as gold depreciated and interest rates increased.
The global gold ETFs lost 84.7 t in the process, marking outflows for the third time in four months, and the seventh worst historical monthly holdings loss, reports the WGC.
As such, global assets under management currently stand at 3 681 t, worth $207-billion – levels last seen in June 2020, when the price of gold was near the February closing level of $1 743/oz.
In terms of regional gold ETF flows, the WGC reports that momentum trading impacted larger funds in North America, with outflows falling by 3.4%, or 71.2 t, and worth $4.1-billion.
Holdings in European funds, meanwhile, fell by 1.1%, or 23.8 t, with a value of $1.1-billion.
However, funds listed in Asia had strong net inflows that increased 8.4%, or 10.6 t, and were worth $596-million.
Other regions, generally, had outflows amounting to a 0.7% decrease, or 0.3 t, and worth $27-million.
LONG-TERM TRENDS
The WGC says global assets under management have retraced the last six months of overall inflows over the past four months.
As such, month-to-month swings in overall global flows will continue to be dominated by US and UK funds. The organisation also reports that larger gold ETFs have lost assets in recent months, likely from momentum trading; while low-cost gold-backed ETFs continue to see assets grow.
The WGC also notes that Asian gold ETF holdings continue to grow assets despite other regions faltering.