Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson maintained his holding in the biggest exchange-traded product backed by gold as prices rose on increasing demand for a haven.

Paulson & Co., the largest investor in the SPDR Gold Trust, kept its stake at 10.23 million as of June 30, a government filing showed Thursday. The holdings were unchanged for the fourth straight quarter.

Gold rallied 9.4 percent in 2014, defying bearish forecasts from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and outperforming equities and bonds amid escalating conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The haven appeal may be waning amid concern that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as the U.S. economy accelerates, according to Lance Roberts, the chief strategist for STA Wealth.

“Gold has been reacting to the headlines, but everyone is not jumping in as there is a lot of optimism about the U.S. economic growth,” Roberts, who helps oversees $600 million for STA Wealth in Houston, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Concerns about the U.S. raising rates will continue to weigh on gold.”

Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust are down 0.3 percent this year to 795.6 metric tons, after a 41 percent plunge in 2013. Holdings in global ETPs reached 1,707.9 tons on June 20, the the lowest since 2009. They tumbled 33 percent last year, helping to erase more than $73 billion from the value of the funds.

Gold Prices

In New York, gold futures for December delivery rose 0.1 percent Thursday to $1,315.70 an ounce on the Comex, a third straight advance.

Gold tumbled 28 percent in 2013, the biggest drop in three decades, as U.S. equities rallied to a record and inflation remained muted amid speculation that the Fed would taper the pace of monetary stimulus.

Paulson started his foray into gold in early 2009, betting that prices would rise amid unprecedented monetary stimulus. His tone changed last year as the metal headed for the first annual decline since 2000, telling clients in November that he personally wouldn’t invest more money in his bullion fund.