GraniteShares has lowered the expense ratio of the $280 million GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR US) from 0.20% to 0.17%, once again making it the cheapest gold ETP on the market.
The GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR US) is the lowest-cost gold ETP on the market with an expense ratio of 0.17%.
BAR boasted the cheapest expense ratio when it launched in September 2017, a feature which helped drive assets under management to $200m within just nine months.
That title was short-lived, however, following the introduction of the SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM US) in June of this year through a collaboration between State Street Global Advisors and the World Gold Council. GLDM hit the market with a cost of just 0.18%.
The MiniShares’ per-share trading price of one-hundredth of an ounce of gold, as represented by the LBMA Gold Price PM (USD), as opposed to one-tenth of an ounce of gold for the established SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD US), has proved popular with retail investors.
This low-entry-price feature is shared with the Perth MINT Physical Gold ETF (AAAU US) which launched in August and also matched GLDM’s expense ratio of 0.18%.
Both ETPs have fared well since launch with GLDM and AAAU currently housing $230m and $50m in AUM respectively.
Research from the World Gold Council shows a growing trend of lower-cost gold ETPs luring away assets from higher-cost products. In September alone GLD, which costs 0.40%, shed nearly $500m of its $28bn AUM while GLDM and AAAU added $120m and $30m respectively.
With BAR now offering the most competitive price amongst all gold-backed ETPs, GraniteShares has positioned the product in a prime position to capture flows should this trend continue.
“From the outset, our mission at GraniteShares has been to offer innovative approaches for common pain points experienced by investors – primarily cost,” said Will Rhind, CEO of GraniteShares. “That commitment to offering best-in-class investments was the driving motive behind BAR’s fee reduction, and is reflected throughout our entire ETF suite.”