AAAU vs. GDX: Is It Better to Hold Physical Gold or Invest in Gold Miners?
Physical gold offers lower costs and stability, while mining stocks deliver higher returns with greater volatility.
Overview
The Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (NYSEMKT:AAAU) offers low-cost exposure to physical bullion, whereas the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT:GDX) invests in a diversified basket of global mining companies.
While both funds allow investors to gain exposure to the gold market, they represent entirely different asset classes. One tracks the spot price of the physical commodity held in vaults, while the other tracks the shares of businesses that extract the metal from the ground.
Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns over the available fund history (up to five years). The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield.
Details
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.