Once again, in September, global gold-backed ETFs and similar products have shown further growth in capital inflows.

According to the latest data by the World Gold Council, they totaled US$3.9bn of net inflows across all regions in September, increasing their collective gold holdings by 75.2 tonnes(t) to 2,808t, the highest levels of all time.

Regional fund flows, data as of September 30th, 2019

Source: World Gold Council, Bloomberg

Holdings surpassed late 2012 levels, at which time the gold price was near US$1,700/oz, 18% higher than current levels. Notably, the gold-backed ETF landscape is vastly different than in 2012 when two-thirds of global holdings were concentrated in North America. Today, North American- and European-listed funds make up 52% and 44% of global holdings, respectively, with the remainder coming from funds listed in Asia and other regions.

Long-term trends

• Global gold-backed ETF holdings hit record highs, increasing by 13.4% to date this year.
• Global gold-backed ETFs added 368t (US$17.9bn, 13.4%) y-t-d, driven by strong inflows in the past four months.
• European funds have grown consistently this year, seeing positive flows in all months except April and UK-based fund holdings are at all-time highs, reaching 582 or 21% of global gold-backed ETF assets in September.
• Strong inflows in North American-listed funds over the past five months have increased the region’s contribution to 2019 growth – as of end September, North America had added 214t compared to 146t in Europe, or 58% of net inflows in 2019.
• Low-cost gold-backed ETFs in the US have seen positive flows for 15 of the past 16 months and have increased their collective holdings by 51% so far this year.
• Asian-listed funds have reversed strong early-year outflows of over 12% and now have grown 8% on the year.​

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