International question regarding Gold ETF investment

Discussion of the Gold portion of the Permanent Portfolio

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Plurimus

International question regarding Gold ETF investment

Post by Plurimus »

As a non-US Dollar person for daily life expenses and income, I wondered which is the right kind on ETF to chose for Gold investment?
As gold is the inflation protection and the 2nd favorite currency when investors are selling their US Dollar, should my ETF, which is denominated in Swiss Francs,  (1) be unhedged against US Dollar versus Swiss franc fluctuation in which case I would have lost about 5-6% in the 6 months as the Swiss Francs outperformed Gold against the US Dollar? Or should I invest in an ETF that is (2) hedged against the US Dollar (somewhat higher cost due to currency hedging), which gives me a performance close to Gold versus the US Dollar?
My gut tells me to avoid costs and currency hedging. But could there be a problem with the fact that the Swiss Francs is such a tiny small currency compared to the US Dollar and Gold that it will not function/react in the way it should.

Example of unhedged Gold ETF in Swiss Francs: http://www.ch.etfinfo.com/en/ret/product/CH0024391002/
Example of hedged Gold ETF in Swiss Francs: http://www.ch.etfinfo.com/en/ret/product/CH0103326721/

I hope my question is understandable  :D  Many many thanks in advance for any answers and opinions on this.
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