The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca:GLD), iShares Gold Trust (NYSEArca:IAU) and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEArca:SGOL) are among the leading gold exchange traded products, but there are some alternatives worth considering.
Those alternatives include the SPDR Long Dollar Gold Trust (NYSEArca:GLDW), which debuted earlier this year. The new gold ETF may help investors gain exposure to gold bullion price movements to hedge against potential market volatility, without worrying about the negative effects of a strengthening U.S. dollar.
GLDW tries to reflect the performance of the Solactive GLD Long USD Gold Index, which is designed to represent the daily performance of a long position in physical gold and a short position in the FX Basket comprised of euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian Dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc. The performance of the USD against the currency basket will determine whether the index increases or decreases the amount of gold held.
“With a heightened level of political uncertainty permeating throughout the investment ecosystem, investors are more focused on reappraising potential tools to mitigate risk and generate uncorrelated returns. As a result, gold-backed ETFs have seen nearly $2 billion of inflows in 2017,” according to a recent note from State Street.