The First Gold Hedged Equity ETFs

Investors seeking to diversify a portfolio have utilized gold as an alternative asset with a low correlation to traditional equity and fixed-income positions. Now, REX Shares has launched two exchange traded funds that allow investors to gain exposure to both equities market and gold.

On Tuesday, the REX Gold Hedged S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: GHS) and the REX Gold Hedged FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: GHE) began trading, according to a press release. GHS has a 0.48% expense ratio and GHE has a 0.65% expense ratio.

The actively managed GHS and GHE will try to outperform the FTSE Emerging Gold Overlay Index and the S&P 500 Dynamic Gold Hedged Index, respectively.

The gold hedged strategy allows investors to access exposure to gold without diminishing their equity allocations, essentially providing investors a two-in-one, gold-and-stock position in a fund wrapper.

“Investors have been increasing their exposure to gold recently,” Greg King, Founder and CEO of REX Shares, said in a press release. “Our new ETFs allow them an unprecedented type of access to the movements in the price of gold without asking them to choose between gold or stocks.”

King, the man behind the new REX Shares provider, is no stranger to the ETF business. King built the first ever exchange traded note while working on the iPath platform at Barclays and was Head of Exchange Traded Products for Credit Suisse. More recently, he was CEO and co-founder of VelocityShares, which was acquired by Janus Capital.