Featured Report
Gold-backed ETFs and similar products (gold ETFs) recorded their ninth consecutive month of inflows in August, albeit at their slowest pace for 2020. Collectively, gold ETFs added 39 tonnes (t) during the month, equivalent to US$2.2bn or 0.9% of assets under management (AUM) as the price of gold reached a record high of US$2,067 early in August. As equities continued to climb to new all-time highs, interest rates rose and yield curves steepened, investor positioning in the gold market consolidated later in the month and the gold price ended the month slightly lower (-0.38% or US$1,957/oz) for the first time in five months.
In this paper, we seek to answer those questions by assessing how gold lease rates have been affected in the past through changes in the demand to borrow gold and the supply of gold available for lending.
Gold-backed ETFs and similar products (gold ETFs) recorded their eighth consecutive month of positive flows, adding 166 tonnes (t) in July – equivalent to US$9.7bn or 4.1% of assets under management (AUM).
Record H1 inflows into gold-backed ETFs offset weakness in all other sectors of the market, with demand hit by the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic.
Our new gold market outlook examines how the combination of high risk, low opportunity cost and positive price momentum looks set to support gold investment and offset weakness in consumption from an economic contraction.
Gold-backed ETFs (gold ETFs) recorded their seventh consecutive month of positive flows, adding 104 tonnes (t) in June – equivalent to US$5.6bn or 2.7% of assets under management (AUM) – taking global holdings to new all-time highs of 3,621t. This brings H1 global net inflows to 734t (US$39.5bn), significantly above the highest level of annual inflows, both in tonnage terms (646t in 2009) and US-dollar value (US$23bn in 2016).
Continuing their growth streak, gold-backed ETFs (gold ETFs) added 154 tonnes (t) – net inflows of US$8.5bn (+4.3%) across all regions in May, boosting global holdings to a new all-time high of 3,510t. Year-to-date inflows of US$33.7bn exceed the highest level of annual inflows of US$24bn seen in 2016.
Globally, gold-backed ETFs (gold ETFs) added 170 tonnes(t) – net inflows of US$9.3bn (+5.1%) – in April, boosting holdings to a new all-time high of 3,355t.1 Assets under management (AUM) also reached a new record high of US$184bn as gold in US dollars moved higher by 5.8%. Inflows have been strong and consistent in recent months, but not unprecedented. Rolling twelve-month inflows of 879t just surpassed those of 2009 and 2016, while rolling six-month inflows are less than two-thirds of the 457t of inflows in the comparable time periods of 2009 and 2016.
The global COVID-19 pandemic fuelled safe-haven investment demand for gold, offsetting marked weakness in consumer-focused sectors of the market.
Global gold-backed ETFs (gold ETFs) and similar products added 298 tonnes(t), or net inflows of US$23bn, across all regions in the first quarter of 2020 – the highest quarterly amount ever in absolute US dollar terms and the largest tonnage additions since 2016. During the past year, gold ETFs added 659t, the highest on a rolling annual basis since the financial crisis, with assets under management (AUM) growing 57% over the same period.