Growth-Oriented Themes Trump Safe Havens Amidst Record ETF Inflows

The biggest winners of last year's ETF inflows have fallen out of favor in the first half of 2026, according to data from VettaFi.

Gold and spot bitcoin ETFs saw investors pull billions of dollars as capital rotated toward AI infrastructure, semiconductor hardware, and other growth-oriented themes.

The SPDR Gold Shares (ARCA:GLD) and iShares Gold Trust suffered $3 billion in net outflows and $4 billion respectively, marking their weakest stretch of the year.

The largest gold-backed funds faced broader pressure due to a hawkish Federal Reserve, a stronger U.S. dollar, and falling bullion prices.