Indian Gold ETF Volume Hits Record, May Double This Year

The world's largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shaes Trust (GLD), has had its holdings stuck in a rut for some time now. Not so for ETFs in India.

“The growth in the assets under management in gold would be higher than the gold returns per se because there will be more people looking at this,” said Kulkarni. Flows into gold ETFs were 1.1 billion rupees in December, with investors adding money to them in 11 months out of 12 in 2010, data from the mutual funds’ association website shows.

Assets held by gold funds have risen to 16 metric tons from 12 tons, Mitra said.

Also in the article is a forecast for a doubling of Indian ETF volumes this year. There are currently ten of them.


Interestingly, as noted above, gold demand in the developed world seems to be stalled if the largest ETF is any guide. Perhaps a shift to buying physical has taken place. Sprott's new PHYS ETF, a hybrid between the regular thing and a custodial account for physical gold, has sopped up a lot of funds lately.

What's unarguable, though, is the fact that demand in both India and China is exploding.