WGC: Gold ETFs Set New Record, Breach 1,000-tonne Mark In 2020

Gold-backed ETFs and similar products (gold ETFs) recorded their tenth consecutive month of net inflows during September, matching equivalent stretches in 2008 and 2016, reported the World Gold Council (WGC).

Gold ETF holdings increased by 68.1 tonnes (t) ($4.6 billion) or 2% of assets under management (AUM) despite gold’s worst monthly price performance since November 2016. Global net inflows of 1,003t ($55.7 billion) in 2020 have led overall gold investment demand and taken the gold ETF holdings universe to a fresh new all-time high of 3,880t and $235 billion in AUM.

Regional flows

European funds resumed strong inflows

North American funds had inflows of 34.6t ($2.2bn, 1.8% AUM)
Holdings in European funds increased by 26.0t ($1.9bn, 2.0%)
Funds listed in Asia saw holdings rise by 6.8t ($432mn, 5.9%)
Other regions had inflows of 0.6t ($23mn, 0.6%).

Individual flows

SPDR® Gold Shares and iShares Physical Gold collectively added over $2bn in September

In North America, SPDR® Gold Shares led global inflows, adding 17.4t ($1.1bn, 1.4%), followed by iShares Gold Trust, which added 12.8t ($810mn, 2.5%); the low-cost space was fronted by SPDR® Gold MiniShares growing by 2.8t ($169mn, 4.8%) with minimal to no flows in the other low-cost funds like Aberdeen Physical Swiss Gold Shares and Graniteshares Gold Trust
In Europe, iShares Physical Gold added 15.7t ($984mn, 6.6%), followed by Invesco Physical Gold ETC, which added 12.3t ($768mn, 5.6%). WisdomTree Physical Gold led global outflows with -5.6t ($342mn, -3.8%) followed by Xtrackers Physical Gold ETC with -2.1t ($127mn, -8.4%)
Two new funds were listed in China (BOC Shanghai China Gold ETF and CCB Principal Shanghai Gold ETF), collectively adding over 1t to the Asian region; Bosera’s listed fund led the region’s inflows with 2.0t ($127mn, 11.9%).

Long-term trends

Gold ETFs have added more than 1,000t for the first time ever, surpassing the 2009 record of 646t.