Which Gold ETF Would You Recommend Now?

[Don]

I'm going to be purchasing some gold soon and do not want the physical kind.

Which ETF would you recommend from GLD, IAU, PHYS, or AAAU?

Thanks.

[Tortoise]

SGOL might be another one worth considering. I hold some of it. Similar expense ratio and assets under management as GLDM (although its average volume seems to be lower for some reason).

[boglerdude]

> AAAU has too low of a trading volume

How low is too low and why's this a problem

[mathjak107]

i found at times the spreads in iau can be pretty wide compared to gld .

[sophie]

> AAAU has too low of a trading volume

How low is too low and why's this a problem

Most experts would say somewhere around 1M shares/day, but certainly a few hundred thousand at a minimum. Currently, AAAU has an average volume of under 67,000 shares/day.

Why? Because if you need to sell a bunch of shares for whatever reason, you may have difficulty receiving a fair price as the market makers can manipulate thinly traded securities.

Since the gold shares are backed up by the Perth Mint and they can be converted to physical gold on request, I'm not sure you will really need a buyer for your shares in order to sell. This ETF, unlike others, is really a proxy for unallocated gold storage directly with the Mint, except with a different fee structure. I WOULD worry about small volume with an ETF like GLD or IAU, because their shares are not backed up 100% with gold reserves in the fund's direct possession.

[sophie]

What bail? All I'd have to do is walk away, and New York would be powerless to go after me.

Don't know what the procedure is to convert AAAU shares to physical, but the point is that the gold is in their vaults and not loaned out to a third party or tied up in some type of derivative trading. They can make good on the sale whether there is a buyer for your shares or not. At least theoretically. :-)

[KevinW]

GLDM or IAU due to low expenses.

[Don]

I purchased some GLDM today. Also bought VGLT. Thanks, guys!

[yankees60]

Any updated recommendations from anyone regarding these recommendations? Particularly regarding Perth Mint's AAAU and what is currently going in Australia.

[jatwell]

AAAU was sold to Goldman I think.

When it was no longer backed by the Australian government, I switched to SGOL.

[seajay]

AAAU was sold to Goldman I think.

When it was no longer backed by the Australian government, I switched to SGOL.

Gold held in Australia would be a concern for me

https://jjfkdkr.blogspot.com/2008/11/au ... ation.html

Australian law already has a mechanism in place to require delivery of gold to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) - Part IV of the Banking Act 1959. There is no need for the Government of the day to have to rush new legislation through that may attract public comment or opposition. All that is required is the Governor General to proclaim that Part IV shall come into operation.

Part of which is

Section 41 – you will not be allowed to export or take gold out of the country.

[coasting]

Regarding termination events for some popular gold ETFs, it appears some are scheduled to terminate at a future date.

According to GLD prospectus,
"The Trustee will terminate and liquidate the Trust if one of the following events occurs:
...
The maximum period for which the Trust is allowed to exist under New York law ends."
Inception date is November 18, 2004 - anyone know the maximum period for an investment trust to exist under New York law?

According to IAU prospectus,
"If not terminated earlier by the Trustee, the Trust will terminate on January 19, 2045."
That is right at 40 years after inception date of January 21, 2005. Anyone know the reason? Maybe something regarding Delaware trust law, like GLD trust in New York?

According to AAAU prospectus,
"The Trustee will terminate and liquidate the Trust if any of the following events occur:
...
if the law governing the Trust limits the maximum period during which the Trust may continue, upon the expiration of 21 years after the death of the last survivor of all of the descendants of Elizabeth II, Queen of England, living on July 26, 2018"
Seems like this fund may continue indefinitely.

According to SGOL prospectus,
While it shares similar termination events in common with the other funds, I did not find language regarding a scheduled termination date.

[jalanlong]

I started using BAR. It has the lowest expenses I believe.

https://graniteshares.com/institutional ... s/etfs/bar

[seajay]

Physical gold supplemented with a 3x long or short gold fund to adjust exposure up/down to desired level. There's 80 times more paper gold than physical gold, so a risk to most ETF's is that if a gold-run did occur (high demand for delivery of physical), paper gold could break.

[Cortopassi]

Physical gold supplemented with a 3x long or short gold fund to adjust exposure up/down to desired level. There's 80 times more paper gold than physical gold, so a risk to most ETF's is that if a gold-run did occur (high demand for delivery of physical), paper gold could break.

Are there still hucksters out there concerned about paper gold breaking? I've heard this for 13+ years now...

Not demeaning your comment, just amazing that people hold onto their ideas, good or bad, whether on gold, bonds, stocks, etc, forever. It is hard to change people's views.

I recall I was into Michael Pento for a while and saw his book still on the shelf at the library yesterday, 2013 "The Coming Bond Market Collapse" Yeah. Still waiting on that one too...

And 3x funds, aren't there decay issues with those? Are you adjusting exposure daily?

[snedgar]

SeaJay,
Respectfully, I used to believe that 80x number as well.
But from a quick google search, it appears that the ratio of gold in ETFs/gold in the world is closer to 3.6t/187t. So maybe we both had our ratios reversed?
Just a thought.
Steve