Curious what the best gold ETF on the market is?
While a regular Exchange-Traded fund follows the activity of a particular index from the market and offers an investor the possibility to put his or her money in a basket of companies, gold ETFs track the price of gold, the fluctuations of which are reflected in the price of the corresponding ETF. In this way, a gold ETF investor does not purchase the metal per se, but rather he or she receives a cash equivalent.
Throughout history, gold has been one of the best precious metals for store-of-value principles, for hundreds of years representing a medium of exchange and later, representing the value of issued money through a store of gold reserves.
Nowadays, gold is still very popular for investment purposes, much like this S&P 500 ETF. Many consider gold as a solid investment, which is protected from inflation, or other economic difficulties.
Investing in a gold ETF could be a smart move, which has many advantages like the impossibility to be lost or stolen, or the lack of any premium charges. For example, if one considers purchasing physical gold in the form of a bar or coins, he or she has to pay also for the production of that bar, while an ETF does not have such charges. At the same time, gold ETFs have a higher level of liquidity, which is a good thing for those who do not pursue long-term investments.
With this in mind, Insider Monkey has compiled a list of the ten largest gold ETFs in terms of Assets Under Management (AUM). In addition, we have included the average daily trading volume and the year-to-date return.
Let’s take a look at what the best gold ETF is. Highlights include SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSEARCA:GLD), ETFS Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:SGOL) and iShares Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSEARCA:IAU).
You may be surprised (continue reading on the following pages):
No. 10 Deutsche Bank AG DB Gold Short ETN(NYSEARCA:DGZ)
Assets Under Management: $31,500
Average Daily Trading Volume: $295,000
YTD Return: 18.7%
No. 9 ETFS Asian Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:AGOL)
Assets Under Management: $65,800
Average Daily Trading Volume: $1,030
YTD Return: -18.7%
No. 8 Deutsche Bank AG DB Gold Double Short ETN (NYSEARCA:DZZ)
Assets Under Management: $77,600
Average Daily Trading Volume: $813,300
YTD Return: 37.4%
No. 7 ProShares UltraShort Gold (ETF) (NYSEARCA:GLL)
Assets Under Management: $120,900
Average Daily Trading Volume: $254,600
YTD Return: 36%
No. 6 PowerShares DB Gold Fund (ETF) (NYSEARCA:DGL)
Assets Under Management: $165,500
Average Daily Trading Volume: $59,800
YTD Return: -19.5%
No. 5 ProShares Ultra Gold (ETF) (NYSEARCA:UGL)
Assets Under Management: $180,000
Average Daily Trading Volume: $168,600
YTD Return: -36.4%
No. 4 Deutsche Bank AG DB Gold Double Long ETN (NYSEARCA:DGP)
Assets Under Management: $220,500
Average Daily Trading Volume: $312,400
YTD Return: -37%
No. 3 ETFS Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:SGOL)
Assets Under Management: $1.3 million
Average Daily Trading Volume: $82,500
YTD Return: -18.5%
No. 2 iShares Gold Trust(ETF) (NYSEARCA:IAU)
Assets Under Management: $7.6 million
Average Daily Trading Volume: $5.5 million
YTD Return: -18.4%
No. 1 SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSEARCA:GLD)
Assets Under Management: $40.3 million
Average Daily Trading Volume: $10.4 million
YTD Return: -18.6%
