Gold price volatility
The Trust is passive and fully exposed to movements in bullion prices without hedging.
- Scope
- NAV and share price
- Materiality
- high
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.
| % | |
|---|---|
| Physical gold exposure | 0% The Trust’s core asset is allocated gold bullion held by its custodian on behalf of shareholders. |
| Exchange-traded shares | 0% Shares of the Trust trade on NYSE Arca and provide investors with tradable gold exposure. |
| Creation and redemption mechanism | 0% Authorized Participants can create or redeem baskets of 50,000 shares against gold. |
| Trust administration and custody | 100% The Sponsor, Trustee, and Custodian administer, value, and safeguard the gold holdings. |
The Trust’s investors are primarily market participants seeking direct, exchange-traded exposure to gold prices without...
- Secondary market investorsprimary
Retail and institutional investors buy shares on NYSE Arca for liquid exposure to gold prices.
- Authorized Participantsprimary
Broker-dealers create and redeem baskets against physical gold to support market liquidity and arbitrage.
- Portfolio allocatorssecondary
Asset managers and advisers use the Trust for diversification, inflation hedging, or tactical gold positioning.
The Trust is organized in the United States and trades on NYSE Arca, but its gold is custodied in London through...
- •United States domicile and NYSE Arca listing
- •Gold custody in London through the custodian
- •Pricing tied to LBMA Gold Price in London
- •Global investor base rather than local end markets
- •No operating manufacturing or sales footprint
The Trust’s strategy is to maintain simple, low-friction exposure to physical gold through a passive structure that...
01
Preserve tight tracking to gold pricesshort-term
The Trust’s value proposition depends on minimizing tracking error versus bullion.
02
Maintain liquidity and tradabilityshort-term
Secondary-market liquidity helps keep shares close to NAV and supports investor access.
03
Protect custody and operational integritymedium-term
The Trust depends on third-party service providers to safeguard bullion and process transactions.
The Trust is exposed to gold price volatility because it is a passive vehicle and does not hedge or actively manage...
Operational and custody risk
The Trust relies on the custodian, trustee, and other service providers for gold safekeeping and administration.
- Scope
- Asset protection and transaction processing
- Materiality
- high
Benchmark and valuation risk
NAV depends on the LBMA Gold Price, so disruptions or loss of confidence in the benchmark can affect valuation.
- Scope
- Daily NAV calculation
- Materiality
- high
Premium/discount to NAV
Shares trade on NYSE Arca while gold markets operate on different hours, which can widen spreads.
- Scope
- Secondary-market pricing
- Materiality
- medium
Cybersecurity and technology risk
The Trust depends on electronic communications, record-keeping, and market infrastructure.
- Scope
- Trading, records, and operations
- Materiality
- medium
Fair value of gold bullion
Primary driver of reported asset value and per-share NAV
Expense accruals and liabilities
Affects NAV and period-to-period comparability
Temporary cash balances
Can slightly alter asset mix and reported net assets
: 28/04/2026