The gold holdings of the exchange-traded bearer bond Xetra-Gold (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) decreased to 166.5 tons at the end of 2024.
This is about 32 tons less than at the end of 2023, when they stood at 198.7 tons. While gold holdings have declined, the price of gold has continued to rise during this period and stood at €80.61 per gram at the end of the year. Xetra-Gold’s assets under custody thus increased by around 13 per cent compared to the previous year, to €13.5 billion.
“The long-term trend shows that gold investments in exchange-traded funds and physically-backed ETCs have become more established as an alternative to gold bars and coins. Nevertheless, European ETCs with physical collateralisation in particular have seen outflows this year. Especially in recent months, the high price of gold, among other things, has stimulated selling. However, it is still true that five to ten percent gold hedges the portfolio in the long run and should not be sold without need,” says Steffen Orben, Managing Director of Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, issuer of Xetra-Gold.
Xetra-Gold is the fifth largest gold ETC in the world and Europe’s largest gold security with physical backing. The holdings always increase when Xetra-Gold shares are purchased on the stock exchange. For each share certificate, one gram of gold is deposited in the central vault.
It is also possible to have the gold delivered. Since the introduction of Xetra-Gold in 2007, almost 2,000 deliveries have been made, a total of approximately eight tons. In 2024 alone, gold was delivered 53 times, amounting to a total of 223 kilograms.
In 2015, the German Federal Fiscal Court ruled that profits from the sale of Xetra-Gold are not subject to withholding tax after a minimum holding period of one year. The sale is treated in the same way for tax purposes as the sale of physical gold.
Xetra-Gold is issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, a joint venture of Deutsche Börse Group and the banking partners Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. and the Swiss bank Vontobel. The gold producer Umicore is also involved.
