How to Use Gold ETFs to Balance Investing Risk
Gold ETFs are garnering greater attention in 2019 as investors look for ways to hedge market risks. “The equity market…
Within the ETF universe, Gold ETFs continue to gain popularity as the number of offerings has grown to more than 30 Gold ETFs trading in the U.S. today. Gold ETFs are popular because they are managed by gold experts, allow for instant diversification within a portfolio and are easy to buy and sell. Along with Gold ETFs and ETNs, investors can also trade gold miner ETFs and inverse and leveraged gold ETFs and ETNs. The first US-listed ETF backed by a physical asset was the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD), which launched in November 2004. Since then, many ETF issuers have entered the space as the demand for gold has increased thanks to gold’s track record in hedging volatility.
Gold ETF Overview
Gold ETFs serve as a good investment vehicle to trade gold, rather than invest in it, since buying and selling physical gold isn’t the most efficient and feasible option. Gold ETFs are significant in that they provide exposure to investors by tracking the price changes of the precious metal, allowing for opportunities to profit without owning the physical asset like gold bars or coins. Thus, when an investor redeems a gold ETF, they do not receive the precious metal, but rather the cash equivalent. Gold ETFs can be accumulated in small amounts and are fairly liquid, meaning they can be easily sold.
| SYMBOL | FUND NAME | ISSUER | TOTAL ASSETS | AVG QUARTERLY VOLUME | YTD | ASSET CLASS | PREV CLOSING PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGL | ProShares Ultra Gold | ProShares | $78,690,000 | 46,522 | -3.41% | Commodity | $124.06 |
| UBG | ETRACS CMCI Gold Total Return ETN | UBS | $6,412,800 | 67,373 | -0.53% | Commodity | $36.67 |
| UGLD | VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN | VelocityShares | $110,058,900 | 473 | -5.09% | Portfolio-Multi Asset | $32.36 |
| BAR | Graniteshares Gold Trust | GraniteShares | $496,114,500 | 67,727 | -0.3% | Commodity | $92.59 |
| DGLD | VelocityShares 3x Inverse Gold ETN | VelocityShares | $19,080,900 | 225,732 | 2.99% | Portfolio-Multi Asset | $12.84 |
| DUST | Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares | Direxion Investments | $109,155,600 | 42,421 | -1.92% | Equity | $47.12 |
| GDX | VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF | Van Eck Associates | $10,351,137,600 | 5,376,779 | -1.61% | Equity | $22.85 |
| GLDI | X-Links Gold Shares Covered Call ETN | Credit Suisse Group AG | $40,848,000 | 41,191,746 | -0.12% | Commodity | $20.56 |
| GLL | ProShares UltraShort Gold | ProShares | $18,186,700 | 10,862 | 2.39% | Commodity | $8.58 |
| GOAU | U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF | US Global Investors | $12,526,500 | 28,654 | 3.94% | Equity | $73.56 |
| GOEX | Global X Gold Explorers ETF | Global X Mgt | $31,949,800 | 8,625 | -2.19% | Equity | $11.8 |
| IAU | iShares Gold Trust | BlackRock iShares | $11,823,576,000 | 6,676 | -0.57% | Commodity | $19.26 |
| JDST | Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares | Direxion Investments | $38,176,000 | 14,063,713 | 1.13% | Portfolio-Multi Asset | $12.32 |
| JNUG | Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bull 3X Shares | Direxion Investments | $734,709,100 | 1,050,524 | -24.32% | Portfolio-Multi Asset | $51.59 |
| NUGT | Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares | Direxion Investments | $1,106,848,900 | 13,446,319 | -13.54% | Equity | $6.88 |
| OUNZ | Vaneck Merk Gold Trust | Van Eck Associates | $145,365,900 | 9,334,670 | -0.52% | Commodity | $14.87 |
| RING | iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF | BlackRock iShares | $190,688,000 | 34,887 | -0.06% | Equity | $12.61 |
| SGDM | Sprott Gold Miners ETF | ALPS Holdings | $133,980,000 | 21,487 | 0.3% | Portfolio-Multi Asset | $19.47 |
| SGDJ | Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF | ALPS Holdings | $46,759,000 | 176,263 | -0.91% | Portfolio-Multi Asset | $16.11 |
| IAUF | iShares Gold Strategy ETF | BlackRock iShares | $4,897,000 | 29,708 | -0.53% | Commodity | $17.38 |
| GLDW | SPDR Long Dollar Gold Trust | State Street Global Advisors | $19,353,600 | 12,533 | 2.69% | Commodity | $24.62 |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Shares | State Street Global Advisors | $30,188,729,600 | 1,516 | -0.49% | Commodity | $49.03 |
| GDXJ | VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF | Van Eck Associates | $3,657,130,000 | 986 | -4.9% | Equity | $129.7 |
| GDXS | ProShares UltraShort Gold Miners | ProShares | $3,101,000 | 7,082,621 | -0.49% | Equity | $121.51 |
| GDXX | ProShares Ultra Gold Miners | ProShares | $10,126,100 | 29,767 | -6.83% | Equity | $39.42 |
| GLDM | SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust | State Street Global Advisors | $657,900,000 | 13,579,084 | -0.39% | Portfolio-Multi Asset | $28.54 |
| AAAU | Perth Mint Physical Gold ETF | Exchange Traded Concepts | $107,070,000 | 7,210 | -0.47% | Commodity | $14.59 |
| DGP | PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN | Invesco | $78,774,000 | 8,348 | -2.5% | Commodity | $28.93 |
| DGZ | PowerShares DB Gold Short ETN | Invesco | $5,357,600 | 642,675 | 1.84% | Commodity | $12.85 |
| DZZ | PowerShares DB Gold Double Short ETN | Invesco | $16,789,000 | 16,832 | 3.79% | Commodity | $12.86 |
| DGL | Invesco DB Gold Fund | Invesco | $102,414,000 | 17,227 | -1.04% | Commodity | $22.85 |
| PSAU | Invesco Global Gold and Precious Metals ETF | Invesco | $29,257,500 | 3,487 | 13.03% | Equity | $14.51 |
| SGOL | Aberdeen Standard Physical Swiss Gold Shares ETF | Aberdeen Standard Investments | $852,825,000 | 6,654 | -0.41% | Commodity | $5.92 |