A gold miner ETF that specializes in exposure to gold mining royalties has been standing out so far in 2018.
The U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GOAU), a smart beta offering that tracks a specialized or rules-based index to help hone in on quality players in the gold mining space, has increased 2.4% over the past month while the S&P 500 declined 2.1%.
The underlying U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners Index uses quantitative analysis to pick stocks, with a particular focus on royalty companies. The GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF tries to reflect the performance of the U.S. Global Go Gold and Precious Metal Miners Index, which is comprised of U.S. and international companies that earned at least 50% of their aggregate revenue from precious metals and categorizes components into four “tiers” of precious metals companies based on certain fundamental factors.
Related: Mining Gold, Precious Metals & Cryptocurrencies in 2018
Each tier includes those having revenue per employee that is greater than the median for companies whose revenue per employees is in the top 20th percentile of the broader universe. Additionally, the screen also factors in operating cash flow per employee and gross margin.