Gold ETFs post negative returns for first time this year

Tania Kishore Jaleel

Mumbai, Aug. 8 Listed gold exchange-traded funds (ETF) posted negative returns for the first time this year, sliding 6.95 per cent in July.

At this level, the average returns of the five listed gold ETFs makes them the worst performing category for the month, according to data available on the Value Research Web site.

Share prices of the gold ETFs dropped between seven and eight per cent in July. Marketmen attribute this to the fall in the price of gold which has declined seven per cent in the last one month and is now quoting at Rs 12,060 per 10 grams. "The gold ETFs are benchmarked against the price of gold. The returns were slightly negative in the past month as the price of spot gold dipped.

The appreciation of the dollar and the drop in crude oil prices have resulted in this fall in gold," explained Mr Devendra Nevgi, CEO & CIO at Quantum Asset Management. Though the gold ETF returns were negative last month, managers in charge of these funds are not perturbed by it. "The collections have been rather consistent of the ETFs and the assets under management have been rising as well. The interest shown in the ETFs by the investors has only been increasing," said an official from UTI Mutual Fund.

Physical gold

"The younger generation, especially, are turning to the gold ETF route as a means of asset allocation. It is a better vehicle for investing in gold than physical gold.

More people are becoming aware of this fact and this can be seen in the numbers now investing in these ETFs and also from the fact that the AUMs are also rising," said Mr Nevgi.

SBI Mutual Fund, in July, filed its draft offer document with SEBI to launch its gold ETF, 'SBI GETS'