Gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and similar products recorded their tenth consecutive month of net inflows in September, reports the World Gold Council (WGC).
Gold ETF holdings increased by 68.1 t, or 2% of assets under management (AUM), despite gold’s worst monthly price performance since November 2016.
Global net inflows of 1 003 t for the year-to-date have led overall gold investment demand and taken the gold ETF holdings universe to a fresh new all-time high of 3 880 t and $235-billion of AUM, the council notes.
North American funds led global inflows again in September, with inflows up by 34.6 t.
After recording outflows in August, European funds added 26 t of inflows in September, while Asian funds added 6.8 t as two new funds launched in China for a second straight month, bringing the total number of new funds in the region to seven this year.
Safe-haven demand and strong year-to-date returns in the domestic gold price fostered Indian fund inflows during the month, says the WGC.
Funds listed in other regions experienced small inflows of 0.6 t in September.