As equities remain strong and promising signs of an economic recovery begin to appear, investors regain their appetite for risk. That means that gold and its exchange traded funds (ETFs) could have lost some luster.

The outflow of assets from gold ETFs is on pace to be the most since April 2008.  The largest gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), up 5.9% year-to-date, has seen its holdings dwindle down 47.68 metric tons from the end of June.  Many experts believe that investors flooded the gold market earlier this year because of macroeconomic concerns. Now many are leaving as things begin to stabilize, states Allen Sykora of The Wall Street Journal.

Although holdings in gold ETFs have started diminishing, it will still remain an option as the global economy starts to recover and inflation remains a question mark.

Another ETF to take a look at for exposure to gold is the iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU), which is up 7.9% year-to-date.

For more stories on precious metals, visit our precious metals category.

Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.

Tags: Commodity ETFs, GLD, Gold, IAU, Precious Metals