Xetra-Gold Top Pick for Asset Managers

Deutsche Börse Commodities: Nearly 75 percent of all investment recommendations in precious metals from banks and independent investment advisors are for “Xetra-Gold”. This was the conclusion reached by Quanvest GmbH in its assessment of investment recommendations as part of this year’s Fuchsbriefe tests. “71 percent of all portfolio recommendations for precious metal investments are for Xetra-Gold,” said Christian Libor, managing director of Quanvest.

Once a year, the publisher Fuchsbriefe along with its cooperation partners at Private Banking Prüfinstanz tests the best asset managers in German-speaking countries. Quanvest supported the analysis of securities accounts. Investment recommendations made by 100 banks and independent asset managers were examined this year. The test required investment recommendations to be based on ethical and sustainable criteria and a portion of the assets to be invested in gold.

“Right before Xetra-Gold’s third birthday, we have once again received confirmation that our product concept is just right: inexpensive, flexible and very safe,” said Martina Gruber, managing director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH. “We know from our customers that one reason for Xetra-Gold’s popularity is that the gold reserves are not decreased by the deduction of management fees. Xetra-Gold is “durable” in the truest sense of the word,” said Gruber.

Since its launch in Germany in December 2007, Xetra-Gold has been by far the best performing product in Deutsche Börse’s ETC segment. Xetra order book turnover from January to November 2010 totaled €2.1 billion, with a monthly average of €193.6 million. This corresponds to a 33 percent market share in Deutsche Börse’s ETC segment (179 products).

Xetra-Gold is backed 100 percent by gold. Currently, Deutsche Börse Commodities gold reserves amount to 49.9 tonnes and are valued at around €1.7 billion. Private investors can have the physical gold delivered to their own bank and receive it there personally. A total of 436 private investors have taken advantage of this opportunity since Xetra-Gold has been available.

About Xetra-Gold
Xetra-Gold (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) is a 100 percent gold-backed bearer bond issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH that represents the right to the delivery of physical gold. Each individual Xetra-Gold note grants the investor the right to demand the delivery of one gram of gold from the issuer. The issuer holds a corresponding amount of physical gold and a limited amount of gold leaf rights for each Xetra-Gold note. The fact that Xetra-Gold takes the form of a security makes it fungible and as easy to transfer as a share. Xetra-Gold conforms to the European UCITS criteria for securities investment, and is thus also suitable for institutional investors. Thanks to an amendment to the BaFin Regulation on the Investment of Restricted Assets of Insurance Undertakings, insurance companies in Germany have also been allowed to purchase Xetra-Gold for their restricted assets in the amount of up to 5 percent of their commodities investment since 29 June 2010. The international derivatives exchange Eurex offers futures and options on Xetra-Gold. Xetra-Gold can also be deposited as collateral with Eurex Clearing, Europe’s largest central counterparty. Xetra-Gold is admitted for sale to the public in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg – and as of this year, in the UK and the Netherlands, too. deutsche-boerse.com/xetra-gold_e

About Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH
The Xetra-Gold issuer Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, based in Frankfurt, is a joint venture between Deutsche Börse AG and the banking partners Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG, DZ Bank AG, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. KGaA, and Swiss-based bank Vontobel. Umicore AG & Co. KG, a Group subsidiary of Umicore s.a. which operates several gold refineries across the globe and manufactures gold bars, is also a partner. The issuer’s sole business purpose is to provide the market with Xetra-Gold, the bond backed 100 percent with physical gold, and to enable efficient, transparent and cost-effective trading of this securitization of physical gold.

About the Fuchsbriefe Report
The economics and finance publisher Fuchsbriefe determines the best asset managers each year in cooperation with the financial services assessment institution Institut für Qualitätssicherung und Prüfung von Finanzdienstleistungen GmbH (IQF) and firstfive AG independent ranking institute. The three companies merged in 2004 to form Private Banking Prüfinstanz. In 2010, they jointly developed the ranking list for the 7th year running. The evaluation is largely based on research by anonymous test persons, who scrutinized 100 banks and independent asset managers this year.

About Quanvest GmbH
Quanvest examines investment recommendations and securities accounts for risk and diversification. Quanvest uses the "Sensis” approach, which spans all asset classes, to enable a comparison of typical investment portfolios in asset management regardless of investment style, product type, sector or region. Risk concentrations are identified. In turn, fund and asset managers and investment advisors use Quanvest’s Sensis analyses to render the background information for complex portfolio decisions plausible to investors in an easy way.

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