Investors have several options to consider when looking to gain exposure to gold and tap into its diverse potential benefits. Understanding the potential advantages and considerations for the different gold investment vehicles – be it ETFs, mutual funds, gold bars and coins or gold mining stocks, can help an investor to determine which option is best suited to their personal investment situation.
More on Gold
For many investors, the case for gold ETFs may be strong relative to those for other gold investment vehicles, particularly in terms of accessibility, transparency, and cost. ETFs often provide a higher degree of flexibility for investors at a potentially lower overall cost than many of the other options do – and gold-backed ETFs are no exception.
Gold ETFs have grown to record levels in terms of popularity and AUM since 2004, when SPDR ETFs introduced the first physically backed gold ETF designed to track the price of gold bullion, SPDR Gold Shares® (GLD®). Since that time, gold investing via gold-backed ETFs has grown to $239 billion in assets.3 2020 has seen gold ETF investing hit record highs, adding 21% — or US $49.1 billion4 — to global gold-backed ETF assets through July 31, and providing investors a cost-effective and efficient way to access gold’s unique benefits during 2020’s market volatility.
Although gold-backed ETFs have seen positive inflows from all regions during 2020, North American investors were responsible for adding nearly 75% of July’s total $9.7 billion of inflows into global gold-backed ETFs — that’s US $7.0 billion.5 Global investors — US investors in particular — have responded to eroding market conditions, placing assets into gold-backed ETFs as market volatility and uncertainty have risen – tapping into the diversification, liquidity and risk-adjusted returns that an allocation to gold may potentially offer6.
In November 2004, the World Gold Council partnered with SPDR ETFs to launch GLD®, the first US gold-backed exchange traded fund. GLD’s arrival made it convenient and cost effective for investors to hold gold in their portfolios. Since then, GLD has reached over $78 billion in assets,7 making it the largest and most liquid gold-backed ETF in the world.8 In 2018, we launched GLDMSM, a low-cost gold-backed ETF option, providing an innovative low-cost solution to meet investor demands.
Both ETFs provide investors a relatively efficient and liquid way to access the gold bullion market through physically backed ETFs. Learn more about our heritage in the gold market, or read more about our gold ETFs below.
SPDR Gold Shares® (GLD®) the world’s largest and most liquid gold-backed ETF offers strategic, long-term investors access to the gold market.9
SPDR Gold MiniSharesSM (GLDMSM) offers investors a lower share price and holding costs, at an expense ratio of just 10 bps.
When considering similar products, it’s important to understand both liquidity and overall costs — and the impact that each can have on your portfolio.