While small investors stayed away from gold ETFs last year, high net-worth individuals (HNI) and corporate houses bet big on this asset class. AMFI data show that the asset under management (AUM) of retail investors in gold ETF grew only one percent in the last one year but that of HNIs and companies rose by 46% and 14% respectively. Experts attribute this to volatility in equity, which caused this asset class to deliver almost nil returns, while the price of yellow metal delivered 8% past year. Large investors preferred to take a tactical position through gold ETFs, to benefit from the short term gain in the yellow metal.