Korea Investment Management's 'ACE KRX Gold Spot' ETF Surpasses 4.5 Trillion Won in Net Assets

Korea Investment Management announced on January 27 that the net asset value (NAV) of the ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF, the nation’s first gold spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), has surpassed 4.5 trillion won.

According to the Korea Exchange, as of the closing price on January 26, the ETF’s NAV stood at 4.6467 trillion won. This marks an increase of more than 600 billion won in just 10 trading days since it surpassed 4 trillion won on January 12.

The growth of this ETF is attributed to the continued inflow of funds from retail investors, driven by the global gold price rally and increasing demand for portfolio diversification. In fact, since the beginning of the year, retail investor funds have flowed in every day except one, with a cumulative net purchase of 140.4 billion won by individuals. Including net purchases by individuals, the total inflow so far this year amounts to 388.9 billion won, the highest among the 26 commodity ETFs listed in Korea.

The ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF, launched by Korea Investment Management in 2021 as the first gold spot ETF product among domestic asset managers, tracks the KRX Gold Spot Index, which is calculated and published by the Korea Exchange. Unlike futures-based products, it does not incur rollover or indirect costs and allows up to 70% of assets to be invested from defined contribution (DC) retirement pension and individual retirement pension (IRP) accounts.

The ETF has also delivered outstanding returns. Over the past year and three years, the ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF posted returns of 79.99% and 44.69%, respectively. Its six-month return was 59.52%, significantly outperforming the average return of domestic commodity ETFs, including leveraged products, which was 32.13%.

Nam Yongsoo, Head of ETF Management at Korea Investment Management, stated, “With demand for inflation hedging and increased gold purchases by central banks worldwide, the upward trend in gold prices is likely to continue this year, following last year’s rally. The ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF is worth considering for long-term investment through pension accounts and similar vehicles.”

He added, “Since demand and supply changes have a significant impact on the price of physical assets like gold, the ability to respond to issues related to liquidity or market conditions is crucial in ETF management. Our company possesses differentiated competitiveness based on our long-accumulated experience and expertise in asset management.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.