Korea Investment Management said on Jan. 27 that net assets of its ACE KRX Physical Gold ETF, the country’s first physically backed gold exchange-traded fund, have surpassed 4.5 trillion won.

The Korea Exchange said net assets in the ETF were tallied at 4.65 trillion won as of the Jan. 26 close. That is an increase of more than 600 billion won in just 10 trading sessions after it topped 4 trillion won on Jan. 12.

The ETF’s growth is seen as driven by steady inflows from individual investors as strong global gold prices coincide with demand for portfolio diversification.

Since the start of the year, individual-investor funds have continued to flow in, with the exception of a single day, with cumulative net buying by individuals totaling 140.4 billion won. Total inflows this year, including net buying by individual investors, amounted to 388.9 billion won, the largest among 26 commodity ETFs listed in South Korea.

The ETF posted returns of 79.99 percent over the past year and 44.69 percent over the past three years. Its six-month return was 59.52 percent, well above the average for commodity ETFs listed in South Korea, including those with leverage, of 32.13 percent.

Nam Yong-su (남용수), head of ETF management at Korea Investment Management, said there is a strong possibility that rising gold prices will continue this year following last year, due to demand for inflation hedges and increased gold purchases by central banks in various countries.