Top Gold ETFs

For investors who expect gold to keep rebounding as Fed rate hikes ease, three outperforming ETFs offer exposure to the precious metal as a key gold index jumped 9% since early November.

They are the iShares Gold Trust Micro ETF, the GraniteShares Gold Trust, and the abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF, which have outperformed the 7% drop in the Bloomberg Gold Subindex and 19% plunge in the S&P 500 Index as of Nov. 9.

Some 10 gold-focused ETFs that trade in the U.S., excluding leveraged and inverse funds as well as those with less than $50 million in assets under management (AUM). They invest directly in either gold bullion or gold futures contracts as opposed to companies that mine for the metal.

While gold rose to near-records in March after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the precious metal plunged as the Federal Reserve's rate hikes to tame inflation pushed two-year Treasurys to the highest in 15 years, attracting investors instead of gold. Now, gold is rising, fueled by the latest moderate U.S. inflation report suggesting that Fed rate hikes will slow.

We take a closer look at the top gold ETFs below. All numbers below are as of Nov. 11, 2022.

iShares Gold Trust Micro ETF (IAUM)

• Performance Over One Year: -5.1%
• Expense Ratio: 0.09%
• Annual Dividend Yield: N/A
• Three-Month Average Daily Volume: 148,026
• Assets Under Management: $1.1 billion
• Inception Date: June 15, 2021
• Issuer: BlackRock Financial Management

Unlike many other gold exchange-traded products, IAUM is structured as a true ETF. It trades on the NYSE Arca and also uses the LBMA Gold Price as a benchmark. IAUM can be utilized as a way to diversify a portfolio of securities and to protect against inflation. The sole holding of IAUM is gold bullion.

GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR)

• Performance Over One Year: -5.2%
• Expense Ratio: 0.17%
• Annual Dividend Yield: N/A
• Three-Month Average Daily Volume: 1,076,315
• Assets Under Management: $866.9 million
• Inception Date: Aug. 31, 2017
• Issuer: GraniteShares

BAR is a gold ETF structured as a grantor trust, which may provide investors with a certain degree of tax protection. It stores gold bullion in a vault in London. The sole holding of BAR is gold bullion.

abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF (SGOL)

• Performance Over One Year: -5.3%
• Expense Ratio: 0.17%
• Annual Dividend Yield: N/A
• Three-Month Average Daily Volume: 2,203,470
• Assets Under Management: $2.3 billion
• Inception Date: Sept. 9, 2009
• Issuer: Abrdn Plc

SGOL is also structured as a grantor trust. It seeks to track the performance of the price of gold bullion minus fund expenses. It has lower expenses than many other gold ETFs. The sole holding of the fund is gold bullion, which is stored in vaults in London and Zurich.

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