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. For a few years, the fund was the second-largest exchange-traded fund in the world, and it was briefly the largest. As of the close of 2014, it dropped out of the top ten.
This ETF denotes a share of gold bullion, unlike many ETFs which represent ownership in a basket of stocks. SPDR Gold Shares are designed to initially 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 March 31, 2019, the trust had 24,572,554.8 ounces of vaulted gold in its custody, representing an asset value of $31,697,578,486.50. SPDR Gold Shares is one of the top ten largest holders of gold in the world.