The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD), the $68 billion bullion ETF, was the most popular exchange-traded fund last month, as investors began positioning themselves for the possibility of the Fed launching another round of quantitative easing aimed at reviving flagging economic growth.

Overall, investors poured $5.75 billion into ETFs and, including the Dow Jones industrial average's 0.6 percent gain last month, total assets rose 2.2 percent to almost $1.235 trillion, according to data compiled by IndexUniverse. That total was just shy of the all-time high of $1.240 trillion reached on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

GLD was the leading edge of those flows—pulling in almost $2 billion in fresh assets—in a clear sign investors are starting to believe the Federal Reserve will embark on a new round of bond buying called "quantitative easing."

The purchases are designed to keep yields low and encourage borrowing, while also boosting asset prices, such as stocks, bonds and commodities. Gold prices get a shot in the arm because QE has the effect of weakening the dollar, making the price of dollar-priced gold go up. Gold futures spiked by 1.9 percent last Friday after Bernanke hinted at the rising probability of QE3.

The No. 2 fund on IndexUniverse's "Top Gainers" table was the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO), followed by the iShares Barclays 3-7 Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSEArca: IEI). VWO gathered $824.3 million, while IEI added $752.1 million.

Top Gainers

Asset Classes

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