Germans invest heavily in gold in 2017, Deutsche Boerse says

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germans are investing heavily in gold, Deutsche Boerse said on Wednesday, with holdings of a gold-backed security it offers rising almost 50 percent in 2017.

Gold is seen as a safe haven for investors during times of uncertainty. Spot gold prices gained about 14 percent during 2017.

Deutsche Boerse said its Xetra-Gold notes, which are backed by physical gold, rose in demand to a record 175.04 tonnes of gold at the end of 2017, up from 117.59 tonnes at the end of 2016. The total amount of assets invested in Xetra-Gold are worth 6.1 billion euros ($7.3 billion), Deutsche Boerse said.

"The increase is due above all to the high demand from institutional investors," said Michael Koenig, managing director of Deutsche Boerse Commodities GmbH. "However, an increasing number of asset managers, family offices and retail investors are becoming interested in gold as an asset class."

($1 = 0.8322 euros)

(Reporting Tom Sims; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)