Xetra-Gold ends 2017 with record holdings of 175 tonnes of gold

Germans continue investing heavily in gold / Increase of 57 tonnes over previous year / Europe's largest physically-backed gold security

The gold holdings of the Xetra-Gold physically-backed bearer note of 175.04 tonnes at the end of 2017 marks a new all-time high. That figure stood at just 117.59 at the end of 2016. The reserve increases when investors purchase Xetra-Gold units via the stock exchange. Each unit is backed by exactly one gram of physical gold stored in the German central vault for securities. Assets under management of Xetra-Gold are currently worth around €6.1 billion.

“The increase is due above all to the high demand from institutional investors. However, an increasing number of asset managers, family offices and retail investors are becoming interested in gold as an asset class,” commented Michael König, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, issuer of Xetra-Gold. “With over 175 tonnes, Xetra-Gold is Europe's largest physically-backed gold security.”

Xetra-Gold has the highest turnover of all commodities traded on the Xetra venue – known as exchange traded commodities or ETCs. Order book turnover for 2017 as a whole amounted to €2.86 billion. Xetra-Gold investors are entitled to physical delivery of the certificated gold volume. Investors have exercised this right more than 970 times since Xetra-Gold was introduced in 2007, resulting in delivery totalling 4.9 tonnes of gold.

In September 2015, the Federal Fiscal Court announced that gains from the sale or redemption of Xetra-Gold after a holding period of one year would not be subject to capital gain compensa-tion tax (Abgeltungssteuer). Thus, for tax purposes, the purchase and redemption or sale of Xetra-Gold is to be treated as a direct purchase or direct sale of physical gold, as, for example, of gold bars or gold coins.

Xetra® and Xetra-Gold® are registered trademarks of Deutsche Börse AG.