SPDR Gold Shares (also known as SPDR Gold Trust) is part of the SPDR family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed and marketed by State Street Global Advisors. As of September 2010, SPDR Gold Shares is the largest gold exchange-traded product and second-largest exchange-traded fund in the world by market capitalization.[1]
This ETF denotes a share of gold bullion, which is unlike many ETFs which represent ownership in a basket of stocks. SPDR Gold Shares are designed to track the price of a tenth of an ounce of gold. If the share price differs from the gold market price, the fund's manager exchanges blocks of 100,000 shares for 10,000 ounces of gold. The possibility of such exchanges keeps the ETF price roughly in line with the gold price, although the prices can diverge during each day.
As of October 30, 2010, the trust had 41,574,486 ounces of gold in its custody, representing an asset value of $55,972,246,241.[2] SPDR Gold Shares is one of the top ten largest holders of gold in the world, behind France and ahead of China.[3]
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In November of 2004, the fund (under the name streetTRACKS Gold Shares) was listed on the New York Stock Exchange by State Street Global Advisors with World Gold Council sponsorship.[4] Since 13th December 2007 and following a name change on 20th May 2008, SPDR Gold Shares has traded on NYSE Arca (NYSE: GLD). It also trades on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX:GLD 10US$), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO: 1326) and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX: 2840).[2]
The Trust’s allocated gold bullion is kept in the form of London Good Delivery gold bars (400 oz.) and held by the Custodian, HSBC Bank USA, in its London vault or in the vaults of sub-custodians.[5] The ETF pays an annual expense charge of 0.40% per annum.[5] The ETF has been criticized by Catherine Austin Fitts and Carolyn Betts for its extremely complex structure and prospectus, possible conflict of interest in its relationships with HSBC and JPMorgan Chase which are believed to have large short positions in gold, and overall lack of transparency.[6] Some critics compare the ETF with mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations.[6] These problems with SPDR Gold Trust are not necessarily unique to the fund, however; as the dominant gold ETF, the fund has received the most extensive analysis.