UK-based physical gold ETF investors risk losing over a year’s worth of gains, by not protecting their investments against currency movements according to Castlestone Management.

With Sterling on the rise, Angus Murray, chief executive at Castlestone, has warned that investors have bought into gold ETFs at a record pace and they may be taking on more risk than they realise.

To buy bullion, some gold-backed ETFs convert GBP into USD without hedging between the currencies. This leaves investors exposed to the movement of the FX markets.

Murray said: ‘This exposure has actually paid off for UK investors, as the GBP’s depreciation added an extra 12 per cent return on top of the 30 per cent per cent rise in the gold price. Yet the appreciation of Sterling would have the opposite effect, erasing gains as investors’

USD would translate into less GBP. ‘If and when appreciation happens, investors who thought their only exposure was to the price of physical gold are in for a shock.’

According to Murray, investors have a chance to lock in their gains and protect their gold investment from currency risks by moving into funds with share classes that hedge out FX fluctuations.