An ETC issuer surpasses US$30 billion in assets under management

ETF Securities, has seen its assets under management (AUM) surpass the US$30 billion mark. Over the past 12 months, ETF Securities’ AUM have increased by 52% as investors seek the safe-haven status of gold against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and financial market volatility. As at the end of August, ETF Securities’ physically-backed precious metal ETPs accounted for 74% of AUM.

Thematic ETFs and currency ETCs have also seen strong growth recently. Together they contributed around 25% of the company’s total AUM growth in the first half of 2011, up considerably from 5% in the first half of 2010.

Commenting, Mark Weeks, Managing Director, ETF Securities, said:

‘Not only is our US$30bn AUM a milestone for the company, but it’s also telling of the changing environment in the way investors are using commodities to form their portfolios. In recent years, it has become increasingly important to consider investment ideas that are different from traditional strategies and asset classes.

In less than 10 years, the global commodity ETP industry has grown to account for over US$170bn in AUM, according to our latest commodity report. We believe popularity for commodity ETPs will continue to be driven by investor demand for “hard assets” to hedge against economic risk and inflation as well as to gain exposure to long-term emerging market growth.’