Best gold ETFs

[chang]

Narrow subject/question here: what's the best gold ETF? This should be easy; they all hold the same thing. All I can see that distinguishes them is (1) expense ratio, and (2) liquidity; plus possibly (3) history, and (4) credibility/integrity of the company and the various interparty contracts that stand between you and the actual gold.

Here is a list of the ETFs showing ER and volume (you need to multiple volume × NAV to get the actual volume in $):
etfdb.com/etfs/commodity/gold/

My observations:

• GLD has by far the highest volume, and also the most assets, but a puzzlingly-high ER of 0.40%.
  
• IAU has the second-highest volume with an ER of 0.25%.
• GLDM has the 3rd highest volume and a 0.18% ER. (Why does SPDR offer GLD and GLDM? Is this a gimmick?)
• SGOL has the 4th highest volume and a 0.17% ER.

All the others trade well under 1M sh/day.

iShares is a well-known entity. Is IAU the obvious choice?

Or is there anything else to consider here? Does the location of the gold matter?

• SGOL's gold is held in Zurich, Switzerland ("The Zurich Sub-Custodian is any firm selected by the Custodian to hold the Trust's gold in the Trust Allocated Account in the firm's Zurich vault premises .... As of the date  of the Custody Agreements, the Zurich Sub-Custodian that the Custodian uses is UBS AG.")
  
  
  • GLD says "Gold bars may be held by one or more subcustodians appointed by the Custodian, or employed by the subcustodians appointed by the Custodian, until it is transported to the Custodian's London vault premises."
    
    
    • IAU says "The Custodian may keep the Trust's gold at its vault premises in New York, Toronto or London or at the vaults of any  subcustodian in England, United States or Canada, unless otherwise agreed between the Custodian and the Trustee (with the Sponsor' approval)."

Switzerland does have a fairly safe ring to it. The U.S., did, after all, confiscate everybody's gold once (1933?). That would be a real bummer if they did it again and you're holding it in an ETF whose storage vault is in the U.S. (or a country friendly to the U.S.).

[fishingrod]

chang ,
The difference in GLD and GLDM is GLDM has a per share trading price of 1/100 of an ounce of gold, the same as IAU, whereas one share of GLD represents 1/10 of an ounce of gold. GLDM also does not have any options trade available where GLD does.

Fishingrod

[yogibearbull]

GLD is the oldest and largest and started out at price of 1/10 th oz of gold. Over the years, the ETF price has diverged from gold price due to ER and trading.

Next was IAU with starting price around 1/100 th oz and lower ER but it had to catch up in liquidity [and it has and then some].

Both can hold physical gold or gold contracts [paper gold]. Note that no gold ETF can exclude using gold contracts, but the degree to which they are used becomes important for PR and the buyers.

Then several others came along with gimmicks. GLDM is a copycat IAU with marginally lower ER [SPDR could have just lowered the ER for GLD]. Others emphasize that they hold no/little gold contracts, and/or that gold is not held within the reaches of the US.

For retail customers, IAU or other low ER ETFs with good/sufficient liquidity are fine.

ETFdb List etfdb.com/etfs/commodity/gold/?search[inverse]=false&search[leveraged]=false

[chang]

Thanks yogibearbull . That ETFdb link is the same one I gave in the OP. What's the relevance of actual NAV, so what does it matter whether it's 1/10 or 1/100 oz.? Hence, I don't understand why SPDR offers both GLD and GLDM. GLD offers enormous liquidity which might be good for institutional ppl trading millions of shares, or a day-trader trying to gain on minute-to-minute changes. For a B&H, I am leaning toward SGOL.

[yogibearbull]

Jan 10, 2021 22:29:00 GMT chang said:

Thanks yogibearbull . That ETFdb link is the same one I gave in the OP. What's the relevance of actual NAV, so what does it matter whether it's 1/10 or 1/100 oz.? Hence, I don't understand why SPDR offers both GLD and GLDM. GLD offers enormous liquidity which might be good for institutional ppl trading millions of shares, or a day-trader trying to gain on minute-to-minute changes. For a B&H, I am leaning toward SGOL.

Your ETFdb link is similar - but I removed all leveraged and inverse gold ETFs/ETNs via description-detail [these don't hold any physical gold but have 100% derivatives].

NAV or price doesn't matter in these days of free-commission and fractional-trading, but these developments are recent. And as I mentioned, many newer gold ETFs are indeed gimmicky.

SGOL is fine as it has low ER and decent liquidity.

[nromsted]

I don't own any, and it is not quite an ETF, but I read that PHYS gets different tax treatment in the US as a Passive Foreign Investment Corporation (PFIC).  This may be an important distinction if you are a long-term holder of a gold ETF.

sprott.com/media/2915/sprott-physical-bullion-trusts-tax-guide-for-us-inv-2020.pdf

[yogibearbull]

Several of Sprott's Canada-based precious metal funds that are also US-listed have this PFIC issue. sprott.com/

BTW, its PHYS, CEF, etc are CEFs, not ETFs.