iShares Gold Trust Shares
iShares Gold Trust is a grantor trust that holds physical gold bullion and issues shares representing fractional beneficial interests in that gold. It is designed to track the price of gold, less expenses and liabilities, rather than to actively manage a portfolio or generate operating profits.
Fiscal year 2025 · change from previous year
Development 2020–2025
Business
Share of revenueThe Trust’s core asset is allocated gold bullion held by its custodian on behalf of shareholders.
Shares of the Trust trade on NYSE Arca and provide investors with tradable gold exposure.
Authorized Participants can create or redeem baskets of 50,000 shares against gold.
The Sponsor, Trustee, and Custodian administer, value, and safeguard the gold holdings.
Customers
The Trust’s investors are primarily market participants seeking direct, exchange-traded exposure to gold prices without holding bullion themselves. Its shares are created and redeemed only by Authorized Participants, while secondary-market buyers and sellers include institutions and retail investors using NYSE Arca. The product is used as a portfolio diversifier, inflation hedge, or tactical gold allocation.
Retail and institutional investors buy shares on NYSE Arca for liquid exposure to gold prices.
Broker-dealers create and redeem baskets against physical gold to support market liquidity and arbitrage.
Asset managers and advisers use the Trust for diversification, inflation hedging, or tactical gold positioning.
Strategy
The Trust’s strategy is to maintain simple, low-friction exposure to physical gold through a passive structure that closely tracks bullion prices. Its operating model relies on authorized creation/redemption, daily NAV calculation, and secure custody rather than active portfolio management.
The Trust’s value proposition depends on minimizing tracking error versus bullion.
Secondary-market liquidity helps keep shares close to NAV and supports investor access.
The Trust depends on third-party service providers to safeguard bullion and process transactions.
Geography
The Trust is organized in the United States and trades on NYSE Arca, but its gold is custodied in London through JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London Branch. Its benchmark pricing depends on the London Bullion Market Association gold price, so the business is economically tied to global gold markets rather than a single operating geography.
Risks
The Trust is exposed to gold price volatility because it is a passive vehicle and does not hedge or actively manage holdings. Its results also depend on third-party service providers, benchmark integrity, and the functioning of exchange trading and creation/redemption mechanics.
- Gold price volatilityImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
The Trust is passive and fully exposed to movements in bullion prices without hedging.
Exposure: NAV and share price
- Operational and custody riskImpact: HighLikelihood: Low
The Trust relies on the custodian, trustee, and other service providers for gold safekeeping and administration.
Exposure: Asset protection and transaction processing
- Benchmark and valuation riskImpact: HighLikelihood: Low
NAV depends on the LBMA Gold Price, so disruptions or loss of confidence in the benchmark can affect valuation.
Exposure: Daily NAV calculation
- Premium/discount to NAVImpact: MediumLikelihood: Low
Shares trade on NYSE Arca while gold markets operate on different hours, which can widen spreads.
Exposure: Secondary-market pricing
- Cybersecurity and technology riskImpact: MediumLikelihood: Low
The Trust depends on electronic communications, record-keeping, and market infrastructure.
Exposure
Accounting
Judgemental itemsGold is valued using the LBMA Gold Price PM, or AM if PM is unavailable, which directly affects NAV.
Impact: Primary driver of reported asset value and per-share NAV
Sponsor fees and other liabilities reduce net assets and can create small timing differences.
Impact: Affects NAV and period-to-period comparability
The Trust may hold cash from settlements or other events before distribution or reinvestment.
Impact: Can slightly alter asset mix and reported net assets
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Last updated: 24/09/2026