The inflows in gold ETFs have hit an all-time high of Rs 11,646 crore in December, while witnessing a surge of 211% on a month-on-month basis from an inflow of Rs 3,741 crore in November, according to the monthly data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

Higher inflows in the category resulted in a rise of 16% in the net assets under management (AUM) to Rs 1.27 lakh crore in December compared to Rs 1.10 lakh crore in November. On a year-on-year basis, the inflows in the category have gone up by 1719% from an inflow of Rs 640.16 crore in December 2024.

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With gold ETFs seeing record inflows in December, market experts recommend rebalancing the allocation based on the desired asset allocation.

Pallav Agarwal, Certified Financial Planner, Bhava Services LLP, told ETMutualFunds that the kind of momentum gold prices are exhibiting, it is very tough to say if the rally has played out; hence, any investment in GOLD ETFs should be done as per the asset allocation of an investor.

Focus should be on rebalancing the portfolio by adding or reducing the exposure so that the desired asset allocation is reached, Agarwal said.

Having a similar opinion, Shivam Pathak, CFP and Founder of Asset Elixir, told ETMutualFunds that it can still make sense to hold gold, but only if it fits your allocation plan.

Pathak further said that if the investor already owns Gold ETFs, then add only if your gold allocation is below your target and if gold has become larger than planned because of the rally, then the right move is rebalancing-bring it back to target and move the excess into your core allocation.

In the month of December 2025, gold ETFs gave an average return of 2.96%. There were 23 funds in the category, Tata Gold ETF offered the highest return of 3.71% in the said time period. Zerodha Gold ETF gave a return of 3.16% in December.

LIC MF Gold ETF and UTI Gold ETF gave 1.71% and 1.70% returns, respectively, in December.

What allocation to have in gold ETFs at the current levels, or the allocation to have in 2026 and for the first time investors, is the current scenario the right time to invest in gold ETFs?

According to Pathak, gold works best as a 5–10% allocation for most retail investors. First-time investors should not wait for the “perfect correction.” If they want exposure, it can be done by starting small and building gradually through SIP/STP, rather than trying to time the market.