Xetra-Gold achieves all-time high in gold holdings with 221.7 tons

Growth of 18.5 tons year-to-date / Europe's largest gold security with physical deposit

The gold holdings of the exchange-traded Xetra-Gold bearer bond (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) rose to a new record of 221.7 tons as of 30 June. This is an increase of 18.5 tons over the course of the year. At the beginning of the year, 203.2 tons of gold were stored in the central vault for German securities. This makes Xetra-Gold the leading physically deposited gold security in Europe.

Gold holdings increase whenever investors buy Xetra-Gold shares via the stock exchange. Exactly one gram of gold is deposited in the central vault for each unit certificate. After the recent strong increase in the gold price, the assets managed by Xetra-Gold currently amount to €11.3 billion, which is also a new all-time high.

“In the first half of the year, gold performed quite similarly to the stock markets. In March, the price of gold fell from around 50 euros per gram to 42 euros, in May we saw new highs at 52 euros”, said Steffen Orben, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, the issuer of Xetra-Gold. “The main reason for this is the high level of uncertainty in the markets, which we believe will remain for the time being. We therefore expect continued lively interest in gold. In addition, more and more asset managers, family offices and private investors are showing interest in gold as a separate asset class. The proportion of private and institutional investors is roughly balanced," Orben continues.

Xetra-Gold investors are entitled to delivery of the securitised physical gold. Since the introduction of Xetra-Gold in 2007, investors have made use of it 1,220 times. To date, 5.9 tons of gold have been delivered.

In September 2015, the German Federal Fiscal Court announced that gains from the sale or redemption of Xetra-Gold after a minimum holding period of one year would not be subject to withholding tax. Thus, the purchase and redemption or selling of Xetra-Gold is to be assessed for tax purposes as a direct purchase and sale of physical gold – such as gold bars or gold coins.

Xetra-Gold is issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, a joint venture of Deutsche Börse AG and Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG, DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. KGaA and Vontobel Beteiligungen AG. Umicore AG & Co. KG, a group subsidiary of Umicore S.A., is also involved.