Investors flock to gold, gold miner ETFs in January in bid for safety

Investors flocked to exchange-traded funds of gold, other precious metals ‍and gold miners in ​January, seeking safety amid geopolitical uncertainty, expectations of further dollar weakness, ⁠and growing bets on U.S. interest rate cuts.According to LSEG Lipper data, ETFs of gold and other precious metals received $4.39 billion in January – their eighth consecutive month of inflows.
Gold miner ETFs ‌received $3.62 billion worth ‌of inflows, the highest since at least 2009.

Cumulatively, these ETFs received a record $91.86 billion worth of inflows ‌in 2025, more than eight times the total in 2024.

However, gold prices have fallen roughly 10% in the past two days after hitting record highs last week, as CME Group raised margin requirements following a sharp metals selloff that was triggered by ​Kevin Warsh’s nomination as the next U.S. Federal Reserve ​Chair.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan expect the rally to remain intact ‌in the longer term, ‍despite the recent volatility.
“We remain firmly bullishly convicted in ‍gold over the medium-term on the back of a clean, ‌structural, continued diversification trend that has further to run amid a still well-entrenched regime of real asset outperformance vs paper assets,” they said in a note.The SPDR Gold Shares ETF received inflows of $2.58 billion last month, while SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust and iShares Gold Trust ETFs attracted $1.79 billion and $696 million, respectively.

Among ETFs that invest in gold miners, investors poured $539 million into ‍the VanEck Gold Miners ETF. The iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index ETF and VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF also saw $312 million ‍and $114 million worth of ⁠net purchases, respectively.

“Central ⁠bank and investor demand for gold is expected to grow further this year, we stay long gold and see value in a mid-single-digit allocation to the precious metal in a well-diversified portfolio,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.

“While we note the downside risks given the current elevated premium, the gold price could also climb higher than we forecast to USD 5,400/oz if political or financial risks increase,” he said.