Why Education Is Essential for Gold Investors
In our Gold ETF Impact Study 2023, we found that a significant number of the investors we surveyed lack knowledge about gold. Take a deeper dive into these findings — and access gold insights and resources that can make a positive difference.
Investors Who Don’t Own Gold Lack Familiarity with Gold ETFs
Among individual investors surveyed who do not hold gold ETFs, only 15% say they’re familiar with gold ETFs and 63% are not familiar.
When we asked the same question of those who have gold in their portfolios but don’t hold gold ETFs, familiarity with this type of ETF was more evenly split.
What this suggests is that without the right education, investors stick to familiar investments. To help investors expand their horizons and understand gold’s potential benefits, financial advisors (FAs) should engage investors in conversations about the asset class.
FAs Play a Critical Role in Whether Investors Choose Gold
Among survey participants with a financial advisor, significantly more of those who invest in gold and/or hold gold ETFs have discussed investing in gold, been informed about investing in gold, and been recommended to invest in gold by their FAs in comparison to the total investors we surveyed.
Figure 2: An FA’s Impact on Investors’ Ownership in Gold
We believe that the conversations FAs facilitate and the education they provide on gold can potentially impact investors’ decisions on whether or not to invest in the asset class.
At the same time, 37% of surveyed investors with gold ETFs do not have a financial advisor and, instead, access gold ETFs through trading platforms and self-directed brokerage accounts.
The Number One Reason Investors Don’t Invest in Gold: Lack of Knowledge
More than a third of surveyed investors (36%) say that they don’t have gold in their investment portfolios because they don’t know enough about the ways they can invest in gold.
Figure 4: The Top Reasons Investors Don’t Invest in Gold
Without Education, Gold Adoption Could Lag
Among survey participants who do not have gold in their portfolios, only 32% say they understand what influences the price of gold and less than half (44%) think it’s easy for investors to buy and sell gold.
We believe that this gap in knowledge may heavily impact the fact that only 11% of survey participants who do not currently have gold in their portfolios say they are likely to invest in gold in the next 6-12 months, and more than half (52%) are not likely. Approximately one-third (37%) of surveyed investors are unsure.
The good news: If financial advisors can facilitate meaningful conversations around the potential benefits of adding gold to a portfolio, the percentage of investors likely to invest in gold could increase significantly.
Equip Yourself with Gold Educational Resources from SPDR
Our educational content on gold is client ready and provides answers to investors’ most complex questions about this asset class.
Invest in SPDR Gold ETFs
Work With a Global Leader
When we launched SPDR® Gold Shares (GLD®) in 2004, it was the first US gold-backed ETF. GLD’s arrival made it convenient and cost effective for investors to have gold exposure in their portfolios. Since then, we’ve launched the low-cost SPDR Gold MiniShares® (GLDM®) and built a dedicated gold strategy team to help investors understand how gold can help their portfolio.
About the Study
State Street Global Advisors, in partnership with Prodege and A2Bplanning, conducted an online study surveying a random sample of approximately 1,000 individual investors in the US. Read more about the details.