Record gold prices pushed some of India’s traditional gold buyers out and sent jewelry demand down, but now many of those people are turning to gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) as an alternative.
In just the last 10 days, reports Swansy Afonso for The Wall Street Journal, trading volume has more than doubled in gold ETFs. India’s gold consumption fell 38% year-over-year in the second quarter. But now, several Indian fund houses are planning to launch gold ETFs to meet the increasing demand.
India isn’t the only place where an ETF gold rush is occurring, either.
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) has experienced a rush and has seen assets soar close to $35 billion, just below its June record. As the $1,000 per troy ounce mark is flirted with yet again, investors are rushing in on the gold bandwagon. This time around, however, providers are also in on the gold rush.
The latest ETF is from ETF Securities LTD., ETFS Gold Trust (NYSEArca: SGOL), which follows the same structure as GLD. The key difference is that GLD has its bullion stored in London. ETF Securities’ fund stores its bars in Switzerland, something many investors have long been wanting. This allows investors to keep their gold holdings geographically diversified.
The Wall Street Journal reports that commodity ETFs have opened new venues of the market to all investors, but regulators question whether this is causing overall market volatility. There are several choices for investors seeking gold exposure.
It’s important to remember that no trend lasts forever, so watch the trend lines and have an exit strategy if gold’s rush comes to a halt. To read more about trend following, check out our new book, The ETF Trend Following Playbook.
- SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD): up 14.8% year-to-date
- ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEArca: SGOL): launched Sept. 9
- PowerShares DB Gold (NYSEArca: DGL): up 13.4% year-to-date
- iShares COMEX Gold Trust (NYSEArca: IAU): up 14.8% year-to-date
For more stories about gold, visit our gold category.