Gold, silver and the miners: assets held because no government issues them.
Hard asset flight is one of 22 market stories StoryVector measures. 106 US ETFs carry it, with $379 billion between them; the largest holder, GLD, holds 36.5% of its capital. This week it ranks 7th of 22 for attention, in the WARM band. Over the past year its ETFs returned +14.9%, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs, to October 2, 2026; past performance, not a recommendation.
Its level among all 22 on the fixed 25 to 60 scale. The band is where the level sits this week, not a direction.
Its ETFs ranked among the narratives, lowest to highest. The white notch is this one; the thin tick is where broad US ETFs would sit. Measured and past, not a forecast.
What the story is about, where its attention comes from, what sets it off, and what it shares ETFs with.
Gold is held because no government issues it. What is the holding protecting against?
The monetary system itself: government debt, the dollar and trust in central banks. Central banks and private buyers are insuring against the system changing.
What gold has long tracked: interest rates after inflation, and the dollar, with a bigger story told around it.
What would separate them. Who is buying. Central banks adding reserves fit the first reading. Investors weighing gold against what cash pays after inflation fit the second. Central bank buying sits in no ETF, so this narrative holds only the private side.
Gold is most of the capital here. Miners and silver carry the same question, amplified, with a business attached. We measure the attention and the capital, not the price of gold.
106 ETFs carry this narrative; 87 have it as their main one. Here is how its capital divides among them.
The asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry this narrative, against broad US ETFs. Measured and past, not a forecast.
| 1M | 3M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y* | 5Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard asset flightits ETFs, unlevered | −5.7% | +3.3% | +0.3% | +14.9% | +33.7% | +19.5% |
| rank among the narratives | 21st of 22 | 7th of 22 | 17th of 22 | 8th of 21 | 4th of 21 | 3rd of 21 |
| The marketbroad US ETFs | +0.8% | +2.6% | +14.6% | +16.8% | +22.9% | +12.9% |
1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualized. Rank is among the narratives with a full record for the period. A dash means the narrative’s ETFs do not cover the whole period.
Total return on the market price, each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it; the market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
7 categories, each claimed by a written rule. The bar is each one’s share of the capital. The table names what decides each.
| Category | ETFs | Capital | Share of the ETFs | Share of the capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoldReal interest rates, the income given up to hold something that pays none, alongside central banks' demand for reserves | 13 | $254 bn | 15% | 67.0% |
| Gold and silver minersWhat it costs to dig the metal out against what it sells for | 17 | $48.2 bn | 20% | 12.7% |
| SilverIndustrial demand for silver, alongside the reasons gold is held | 5 | $34.4 bn | 6% | 9.1% |
| Broad commoditiesThe difference between today's price and the futures price for later delivery | 26 | $32.0 bn | 30% | 8.4% |
| Platinum, palladium and basketsDemand from vehicle exhaust systems and supply from a few producing countries | 3 | $5.3 bn | 3% | 1.4% |
| Levered and inverse wrappersThe day-to-day path of gold, silver and miners' prices, which a daily reset compounds | 22 | $5.1 bn | 25% | 1.4% |
| Everything else | 1 | $0.1 bn | 1% | 0.0% |
The widest gap: levered and inverse wrappers, 25% of the ETFs and 1.4% of the capital.
What issuers have listed with this as the main narrative, by wrapper.
What issuers have listed, not what anyone expects. A wrapper can be listed before anyone wants it, so a count of ETFs and a share of capital answer different questions.
106 US ETFs carry it. The largest holders of its capital are GLD (36.5%), IAU (16.0%) and GLDM (7.9%).
GLD, with 36.5% of the capital in ETFs carrying the story; the top five hold 74.9%.
Its attention level is 55.8 on a scale of 25 to 60, 7th of 22 this week, in the WARM band. The level averages six channels: search, video, news, forums, investor boards and reference pages.
Asset weighted, its ETFs returned +14.9% over the past year, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs, to October 2, 2026. Past performance only.
Run an ETF in hard asset flight? StoryVector shows issuers where their ETFs stand against the closest rivals, every week.
Request a pilot