Egypt’s gold investment funds closed June with 306,500 investors and EGP 9.2 billion (about $182 million) in assets, the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) reported this week, cementing certificates as the country’s largest organized channel for precious metals investing. Seven licensed funds now run that money, alongside two brand-new silver funds that opened for the first time in the second quarter.
The investor count in gold funds rose about 6% in three months, climbing from 289,000 accounts in March to 306,500 in June. The asset value did the opposite. It slipped from EGP 9.28 billion to EGP 9.2 billion, even as thousands of new savers signed up, because gold’s local price cooled just as the crowd walked in.
Seven Funds Hold EGP 9.2 Billion in Gold Certificates
The FRA’s quarterly performance report, covering the market through 25 June 2026, groups gold and silver together at EGP 9.35 billion in combined net assets and 329,000 clients, up from roughly EGP 9.28 billion and 289,000 clients three months earlier. Strip out the two new silver funds and gold alone accounts for EGP 9.2 billion of that total and 306,500 of the clients, spread across seven funds.
Silver only joined the lineup this quarter. Two new funds attracted 22,300 investors and EGP 146.1 million in assets in their first three months on the market.
| Metric | End of March 2026 | End of June 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Gold fund investors | 289,000 | 306,500 |
| Gold fund net assets | EGP 9.28 billion | EGP 9.2 billion |
| Licensed gold funds | 6 | 7 |
| Silver fund investors | 0 | 22,300 |
| Combined precious metals assets | EGP 9.28 billion | EGP 9.35 billion |
Gold funds still dominate the category, holding more than 98% of combined assets and about 93% of the combined investor base once silver’s numbers are set aside.
The roster of gold funds grew from six to seven during the quarter. Most of the money still sits with the market’s first mover, the AZ-Gold Fund, which Azimut Egypt launched in May 2023 with Evolve Holding. Four more followed over the next two years: Sabayek from Beltone Asset Management, the Dahab Fund from Al Ahly Financial Investment Management, the Mubasher Gold Fund from Mubasher Capital Holding, and the Sharia-compliant Gold Misr Fund from CI Capital Asset Management. EFG Hermes added an open-ended fund in January, and net assets for the whole gold-fund category had already surged 80.5% quarter over quarter in the first three months of the year, before growth shifted from price gains to plain headcount.
Egypt’s Gold Investors Skew Young, Male and Urban
Individual investors, not institutions, are driving the expansion. Retail clients made up 71% of the combined gold-and-silver client base at the end of June, against 29% for institutions. Among individuals, men outnumber women by a wide margin.
- 39.4% of investors are between 20 and 30 years old, the single largest age bracket.
- 83% of individual investors are men, against 17% women.
- More than 70% of all gold and silver fund investors are between 20 and 40.
- Greater Cairo holds the largest regional share of the investor base, the FRA said.
FRA chairman Islam Azzam said the pattern reflects younger savers’ preference for newer financial products, adding that it points to a need for the regulator to keep pushing fintech adoption, new product launches and stronger investor protection as the market matures.
Assets Barely Moved While Gold Prices Slid
Here is the part the headline numbers gloss over. Gold funds alone had already reached EGP 9.28 billion in March. By June, that figure had dipped to EGP 9.2 billion, a decline of roughly EGP 80 million, even though the number of gold-fund investors climbed by about 17,500 in the same window.
More people bought in. The pool of money shrank anyway.
That is not a mystery once local gold prices enter the picture. Gold prices in Egypt fell sharply in the closing weeks of the quarter, dropping to their lowest level since the start of the year as a stronger dollar and rising bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike curbed demand. Twenty-one karat gold, the grade most commonly traded in Egypt, slid to around EGP 5,850 a gram and stayed there.
Markets were pricing an 88% chance the Fed would raise rates before year-end, a shift that typically pulls money away from a metal that pays no yield of its own.
The fund category’s growth engine changed mid-year. Rising prices drove the story in the first quarter, when gold-fund assets had jumped 80.5% in three months. Rising headcounts drove it in the second.
Why Egyptians Are Trading the Jewelry Shop for a Certificate
Physical gold in Egypt carries its own overhead. Workmanship charges, known locally as masna’ya, average EGP 350 to 400 a gram for domestically made jewelry and EGP 800 to 1,000 a gram for imported pieces, according to Al Mal, as relayed by EnterpriseAM. None of that comes back when the piece is resold.
Gold funds strip out most of that friction. Investors buy a certificate instead of a bar or a ring, and the fund’s licensed custodian handles storage, insurance and purity.
- No manufacturing or workmanship fee that disappears on resale
- No home storage, safe deposit box or theft exposure to manage
- No need to verify purity without a lab or a trusted dealer
- No requirement to buy a whole bar or coin instead of a small, periodic sum
That access is the whole pitch for many first-time investors. Egypt’s broader investment fund industry, of which gold funds are one slice, had already grown into a EGP 411 billion parallel channel for household savings by the end of the first quarter, according to EnterpriseAM, pulling in savers who once kept their money in physical gold, real estate or bank deposits.
Most investors in these funds are more nimble investors who do not have large liquidity pools, so precious metals funds gave them what they were looking for: the ability to invest small amounts periodically.
Macro analyst Rania Yacoub made that point to EnterpriseAM, describing gold funds as a lower-ticket version of a savings habit Egyptians already had.
The timing helped too. iSagha chief executive Saied Embaby said precious metals funds delivered the highest returns of any fund category in the first quarter, with gains topping 20%. “These returns have significantly enhanced the attractiveness of gold funds, particularly among younger investors seeking flexible, secure, and accessible investment opportunities,” Embaby said.
How Do Egypt’s Gold Investment Funds Work?
Egypt’s gold funds let savers buy a certificate tied to bullion held by an FRA-licensed custodian, instead of buying bars or jewelry outright. Investors buy and redeem units on each fund’s own schedule, and the certificate’s value tracks the global gold price, the pound’s exchange rate against the dollar, and the fund’s running costs.
The metal itself never changes hands with the investor. Licensed gold trading and storage providers hold and audit the bullion on the fund’s behalf, while the FRA supervises the fund managers themselves.
None of that turns the certificate into a fixed-income product. Its value can fall as easily as it rises, moving with gold’s global price and the currency market rather than any fixed schedule.
A Sliding Scale of Exit Fees
Fee structures vary fund to fund, and few investors read them closely before buying in.
The market’s first entrant, the AZ-Gold Fund, requires a stake worth at least 50 grams of gold and charges investors who exit within their first year a redemption fee of up to 3.5%, sliding to 2.4% after one year and 1.2% after two, before disappearing entirely for anyone who holds three years or longer, according to the fund’s own investor disclosure. Selling the certificate back for physical bullion instead of cash carries a separate fee of up to 5.5%.
Newer entrants compete partly on cost. EFG Hermes built its January launch around an open-ended structure with no redemption fee at all, a direct pitch to investors who want in and out without a countdown clock.
None of the seven funds promise a fixed payout to offset those charges.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Money Is Invested in Egypt’s Gold and Silver Funds Combined?
Combined, gold and silver funds held EGP 9.35 billion, or roughly $185 million, across 329,000 investor accounts at the end of June 2026. Gold funds alone make up more than 98% of that asset total and about 93% of the investor count, with silver accounting for the rest after launching only in the second quarter.
Do Egypt’s Gold Funds Guarantee a Return?
No. Certificate values move with the global gold price, the dollar-to-pound exchange rate and each fund’s own costs, so they can lose money as easily as they gain it. That puts them in a different risk category than fixed bank savings certificates, some of which have paid around 17.25% a year over three-year terms, according to Tarek Metwally, a former deputy chairman of Banque du Caire.
How Do Investors Buy or Redeem a Fund Certificate?
Most investors buy and redeem certificates directly through a fund’s asset manager or through brokerage platforms that list Egyptian gold funds alongside their prospectuses and fee schedules, such as Thndr. Redemption terms, minimum stakes and fee schedules differ by fund, so the paperwork is worth reading before the first purchase.
Is It Too Early to Judge Egypt’s New Silver Funds?
Largely, yes. The two silver funds launched only in the second quarter of 2026 and had gathered EGP 146.1 million from 22,300 investors by the end of June, a fast start for a brand-new category but not yet a full quarter’s track record on returns.
What Protects Investors if Something Goes Wrong with the Stored Metal?
Egypt’s gold and silver funds operate under FRA supervision, with the bullion itself held by accredited, licensed custody and trading providers separate from the fund manager. Regulatory rules require that stored metal carry insurance cover, protecting investors against risks such as fire, theft, loss and damage to the underlying gold.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Gold and silver fund certificates carry market risk and no guaranteed return; consult a licensed financial advisor before investing. Figures are accurate as of publication based on FRA data through 25 June 2026.
