Equities back in fashion while gold loses its appeal

Exchange-traded equity funds had the best start to the year on record, in terms of net inflows, while money flowed out of gold funds.

The first two months of the year saw $47 billion (€36 billion) of net new money flow into equity ETFs, according to figures from BlackRock. This was the highest total the firm had recorded for any January and February on record.

Meanwhile, there were $6.8 billion of net outflows from exchange-traded gold products as investors seemed to lose their enthusiasm for the precious metal.

Rising equity markets in recent months, particularly in the United States, where the S&P 500 is up 8% so far this year, may have caused the waning demand for gold. The precious metal is often seen as a safe haven in volatile markets and exchange-traded products have become a popular way to gain exposure.

The world’s biggest exchange-traded gold product is the SPDR Gold from State Street Global Advisors. In the first two months of the year, this fund alone had nearly $5 billion of net outflows, leaving it with $64 billion under management.

©2013 funds europe

HAVE YOU READ?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The tension between urgency and inaction will continue to influence sustainability discussions in 2024, as reflected in the trends report from S&P Global.
FIND OUT MORE
This white paper outlines key challenges impeding the growth of private markets and explores how technological innovation can provide solutions to unlock access to private market funds for a growing…
DOWNLOAD NOW

CLOUD DATA PLATFORMS

Luxembourg is one of the world’s premiere centres for cross-border distribution of investment funds. Read our special regional coverage, coinciding with the annual ALFI European Asset Management Conference.
READ MORE

PRIVATE MARKETS FUND ADMIN REPORT

Private_Markets_Fund_Admin_Report

LATEST PODCAST