State Street’s gold ETF rakes in billions as metal hits record

ETF investors have been piling into gold more than any other asset class as the precious metal hits a record.

State Street’s SPDR Gold Shares, which trades under the ticker “GLD,” has taken in the most cash out of any US-listed exchange-traded fund over the last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s even when accounting for a $720 million outflow Wednesday, as traders appeared to take some profits after pouring money in for the prior six trading sessions.

Another gold ETF from State Street, the SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust, which posted a record inflow of over $1.5 billion on Wednesday, ranked second, the data shows.

The funds are benefiting from investors looking for shelter amid worries over the Federal Reserve’s independence and global sovereign debt levels in developed-world countries.

“Geopolitical uncertainty and concerns about inflation are causing people to seek safe havens and gold is a beneficiary,” said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at TMX VettaFi.

GLD has taken in a net $2.4 billion over the last week. On Tuesday alone, the ETF took in $1.45 billion — the largest single-day influx of cash since March.

While gold slipped Thursday after hitting a fresh high of more than $3,570 an ounce a day earlier, the metal remains one of the best-performing major commodities of the year. The advance has fueled a 33% gain in GLD.

So far this year, investors have poured more than $11 billion into GLD. That compares to 2024, when the fund only took in a net $454 million. The fund now has record assets of roughly $113 billion.

“GLD is the go-to vehicle to get exposure for many institutional investors because of its liquidity,” said Rosenbluth.

(By Emily Graffeo)