How the GOLD ETF fits into an ASX portfolio
The ETFS GOLD ETF provides investors with access to the precious metal of gold, by seeking to achieve a return equivalent to the movements in the gold spot price, before fees and expenses.
GOLD could be used by investors to diversify a portfolio with the precious metal commodity of gold which is typically uncorrelated with other asset classes. In this way, GOLD could be used as a hedge against risk – gold has been traditionally used as a store of value and a hedge against inflation, and is often seen as a ‘safe haven’ asset.
GOLD meets our minimum level for FUM
The Global X GOLD ETF had $2541.51 million of money invested when we last pulled the monthly numbers. Given GOLD’s total funds under management (FUM) figure is over $100 million, the ETF has met our minimum criteria for the total amount of money invested, otherwise known as FUM. We draw the line at $100 million for ETFs in the Commodities sector because we believe that relative to smaller ETFs, achieving this amount of FUM de-risks the ETF.
What about management fees and costs?
Global X charges investors a yearly management fee of 0.40% for the GOLD ETF. This means that if you invested $2,000 in GOLD for a full year, you could expect to pay management fees of around $8.00.
For context, the average management fee (MER) of all ETFs covered by Best ETFs Australia on our complete list of ASX ETFs is 0.5% or around $10.00 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind, small changes in fees can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years.
Next steps
Before buying any ETF based on what you read here on Best ETFs, check out our Global X GOLD report – it’s completely free! Then, search our complete list of ASX ETFs to do a proper side-by-side comparison of your chosen sector or thematic.