Betashares Global Gold Miners Currency Hedged ETF (ASX: MNRS) was the best performing ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) last month.
The MNRS ETF soared by an astounding 22.6% in September, making it the fastest riser among the hundreds of ETFs on the market today.
The obvious tailwind is the roaring gold price, which traded at a fresh record high above US$4,240 per ounce overnight.
Expectations of further interest rate cuts in the world's biggest economy, the US, has spurred the commodity price this week.
It was only six days ago that gold price crossed the US$4,000 mark for the first time in history.
The gold price has been on a tear since early 2024, powered by many central banks around the world buying up the yellow metal.
Goldman Sachs Research analyst, Lina Thomas, said central banks have increased their gold purchases by five-fold since 2022.
The catalyst was Russia's foreign-currency reserves being frozen following the Ukraine invasion.
Thomas wrote in an article:
We view this as a structural shift in reserve management behavior, and we do not expect a near-term reversal.
Goldman Sachs expects central banks, especially in emerging markets, to continue investing in the safe-haven asset in the years ahead.
Our rationale is that emerging market central banks remain significantly underweight gold compared to their developed market counterparts and are gradually increasing allocations as part of a broader diversification strategy.
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Investors plough more funds into gold ETFs
Investors remain highly optimistic about gold, with large inflows into gold ETFs listed in Western nations last month prompting Goldman Sachs to revise its short-term forecast for the gold price to US$4,900 per ounce by December 2026.
The top global broker says the gold price could do even better than its forecast, commenting (courtesy Reuters):
We see the risks to our upgraded gold price forecast as still skewed to the upside on net, because private sector diversification into the relatively small gold market may boost ETF holdings above our rates-implied estimate.
MNRS ETF is one of several ASX ETFs seeking to track the performance of a gold index before fees and expenses.
Some gold ETFs are invested in physical gold, while others are invested in gold miners.
MNRS seeks to mirror the performance of the Nasdaq Global ex-Australia Gold Miners Hedged AUD Index.
It is currently invested in 56 gold mining stocks, with 49% of them listed in Canada, 13% in the US, and 12% in South Africa.
Among its top five holdings is a ASX 200 gold share that Blackwattle Investment Partners rates the 'highest quality gold miner globally'.
The ASX MNRS closed at $14.65 per unit yesterday, up 2.45%, after hitting a record high of $14.69 in earlier trading.
Over the past 12 months, the MNRS ETF delivered total returns (capital growth plus dividends) of 105%.
Top 5 ASX ETFs in September
These ETFs recorded the strongest price growth last month.
| Rank | ASX ETF | Unit price increase |
| 1 | Betashares Global Gold Miners Currency Hedged ETF (ASX: MNRS) | 22.56% |
| 2 | Global X Hydrogen ETF (ASX: HGEN) | 19.59% |
| 3 | VanEck Gold Miners ETF (ASX: GDX) | 19.44% |
| 4 | Global X Copper Miners ETF (ASX: WIRE) | 19.35% |
| 5 | Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP) | 19.00% |
Aussies have $309 billion invested in ASX ETFs
ASX ETFs are very popular with young investors, in particular.
Last month, Australians invested more than $5 billion into ASX ETFs, according to data from ETF provider, Betashares.
ASX ETFs are worth a collective $309.3 billion, reflecting strong ongoing inflows of funds and unit price appreciation.
