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(Bloomberg) -- CME Group Inc. will start offering a one-ounce gold futures contract in January to meet surging demand from retail investors amid bullion’s record-breaking rally.

There has been a larger trend among retail investors to seek smaller-sized gold products as a way to diversify their portfolios as spot gold hit repeated record highs this year. The precious metal is the go-to haven asset in times of economic and financial uncertainties.

The one-ounce contract is a “great way to lower the barrier to entry in our market,” Jin Hennig, CME’s global head of metals, said in an interview. “Our clientele is also getting younger. That’s a lot more doable.”

The futures contract will be available starting Jan. 13, pending regulatory review, the Chicago-based exchange said Thursday in a statement. The new offering adds to CME’s retail-friendly micro gold and micro silver futures — which are a fraction of the benchmark futures contracts. CME said those are among the fastest-growing metals products, reaching record trading volumes this year.

CME also expects the new contract to capture robust demand from retail investors in Asia, where gold as a store of value and a hedge against turmoils is very much embedded in the region’s culture. The contract offers “a meaningful way” for individual traders in Asia to “manage their own wealth creations,” Hennig said.

(Adds comments from CME global head of metals from third paragraph.)