The strongest performance across all five Gold ETFs occurred during the 29th January 2025 to 29th January 2026 rally period, with returns showing remarkable uniformity. According to reports from Mint, ICICI Prudential Gold ETF led with 114.01% returns, followed closely by Kotak Gold ETF at 113.72%, Nippon India ETF Gold BeES at 113.43%, SBI Gold ETF at 113.42%, and HDFC Gold ETF at 113.00%. The data reveals that while these funds belong to different fund houses, their performance patterns are almost identical across both rally and correction phases, with the movement across all five ETFs remaining tightly aligned with gold itself.
The deepest stress period for all funds was the 2013-2014 cycle, when gold experienced a meaningful correction phase. As reported by Mint, Kotak Gold ETF recorded the steepest decline at -20.02%, followed by Nippon India ETF Gold BeES at -19.81%, HDFC Gold ETF and ICICI Prudential Gold ETF both at -19.78%, and SBI Gold ETF at approximately -19% to -20%. This phase serves as a reminder that gold, despite its 'safe haven' tag, can experience extended drawdowns when global rates move against it, with all large funds moving in the same direction during this correction period.
According to Mint data, Nippon India ETF Gold BeES maintains the largest AUM at ₹55,540.20 crore with a Sharpe ratio of 0.13, beta of 2.95, and standard deviation of 1.66. ICICI Prudential Gold ETF follows with an AUM of ₹26,380.80 crore, beta of 2.85, standard deviation of 1.67, and Sharpe ratio of 0.13. HDFC Gold ETF manages ₹23,238.85 crore with a beta of 2.28, standard deviation of 1.65, and Sharpe ratio of 0.13. SBI Gold ETF oversees ₹24,549.53 crore in assets with a beta of 2.85, standard deviation of 1.65, and Sharpe ratio of 0.13. Kotak Gold ETF has the smallest AUM at ₹14,339.53 crore with a beta of 1.59, standard deviation of 1.66, and Sharpe ratio of 0.13.
The analysis reveals that gold exchange-traded funds move essentially the same way, as all funds track the same underlying asset. According to Mint, when gold rises, they all tend to move higher together, and when it falls, the decline is often similar across funds. The direction of behavior is nearly the same across funds, with very slight differences in magnitude, and the return pattern remains closely correlated with gold prices rather than fund-specific strategies. The data demonstrates that whether it's a sharp upswing or a deep drawdown, the movement across all five ETFs has remained tightly aligned with gold itself, regardless of the fund house or the size of the corpus. This uniformity across different fund houses and market cycles reinforces the fundamental nature of gold ETF performance patterns.
