Gold ETFs like AAAU and GLD are one of many very important environment friendly strategies to capitalize on the surge in gold prices.
AAAU bills a lower expense ratio than GLD, making it the additional moderately priced gold ETF.
GLD is dramatically greater and further liquid, with over $140 billion in belongings and really extreme shopping for and promoting volumes.
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The Goldman Sachs Bodily Gold ETF(NYSEMKT:AAAU) and the SPDR Gold Shares(NYSEMKT:GLD) every provide direct publicity to bodily gold. The two ETFs, however, differ by the use of value, shopping for and promoting liquidity, and measurement, which is the place merchants must weigh the two decisions sooner than deciding the place to take a place.
Every AAAU and GLD are designed to duplicate the price of gold bullion, minus payments, and attraction to merchants on the lookout for a simple possibility to take care of gold via the stock market. The comparability beneath seems at how the two ETFs stack up on prices, effectivity, menace, and what items them apart for varied investing needs.
Metric
AAAU
GLD
Issuer
Goldman
SPDR
Expense ratio
0.18%
0.40%
1-yr full return (as of Dec. 19, 2025)
66.8%
66.5%
Beta
0.48
0.13
AUM
$2.5 billion
$146.7 billion
Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents full return over the trailing 12 months.
GLD holds bodily gold bullion. With over 21 years in operation, it is the oldest and largest gold ETF, managing $146.7 billion in belongings as of Dec. 19, 2025. The ETF’s building and measurement have made it a go-to alternative for merchants on the lookout for deep liquidity and tight bid-ask spreads.
AAAU moreover holds bodily gold nevertheless is smaller in measurement, with $2.5 billion in belongings beneath administration. Every funds avoid leverage, derivatives, and added complexity, specializing in direct gold publicity.
For additional steering on ETF investing, check out the full data at
2025 has been an impressive yr for gold, with prices of the pricey metallic surging virtually 65% and hitting all-time highs of $4,381.58 per ounce in October 2025. Whereas geopolitical tensions make gold attention-grabbing as a safe-haven asset, price of curiosity cuts make it additional luring as an funding as as compared with bonds. Sturdy demand from central banks, notably from rising markets, as they search to diversify away from the U.S. dollar and assemble gold reserves, has further fueled gold prices in present months.
Patrons have been ready to revenue from the gold enhance by holding bodily gold, investing in gold shares, or gold ETFs. Amongst these, gold ETFs are generally the favored choice as they allow merchants to understand publicity to gold prices with out the hassles, costs, and risks of proudly proudly owning bullion and with out the need to research specific individual shares. Inside ETFs, whereas some spend cash on the underlying commodity, others spend cash on a bunch of shares.
The Goldman Sachs Bodily Gold ETF and the SPDR Gold Shares are every bodily gold ETFs, holding gold in protected vaults. On account of these ETFs straight observe gold prices, their effectivity fastidiously mirrors gold prices. The excellence primarily lies in measurement and worth.
AAAU is additional moderately priced than GLD due to its lower 0.18% expense ratio, whereas GLD bills 0.40%. This cost distinction would possibly attraction to cost-conscious merchants, notably these holding investments for the long term, as it’d make a considerable distinction to returns.
That’s because of an expense ratio of 0.18% for AAAU means you pay solely $1.80 in annual prices to the fund on a $1,000 funding. Comparatively, you pay an annual cost of $4 per yr do you have to private shares of GLD. The larger measurement of GLD, within the meantime, would possibly attraction additional to retailers as a result of it means tighter bid-ask spreads as a result of elevated liquidity and, as a result of this truth, lower transaction costs on bulk trades.
ETF: Alternate-traded fund; a pooled funding security traded on stock exchanges, holding belongings like shares or commodities. Expense ratio: Annual cost, expressed as a share of belongings, that funds price merchants to cowl working costs. Liquidity: How merely an asset or security shall be bought or provided on the market with out affecting its price. Belongings beneath administration (AUM): The entire market price of belongings a fund or funding agency manages on behalf of consumers. Bid-ask unfold: The excellence between one of the best price a purchaser is eager to pay and the underside price a vendor will accept. Beta: A measure of an funding’s volatility as compared with the final market, sometimes the S&P 500. Max drawdown: A very powerful observed loss from a fund’s peak price to its lowest degree over a particular interval. Bodily gold bullion: Exact gold bars or money held by a fund, fairly than gold-related financial units or derivatives. Direct publicity: When an funding straight tracks or holds the underlying asset, fairly than using derivatives or proxies. Complete return: The funding’s price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming these payouts are reinvested. Sector labeling: Categorizing a fund’s holdings by commerce or sector, sometimes inconsistently or due to information quirks.
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Neha Chamaria has no place in any of the shares talked about. The Motley Fool has no place in any of the shares talked about. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
