Should you invest in ASX Gold ETFs? And what are the best ones to consider?

Should you invest in ASX Gold ETFs? In case you’ve been living under a rock, gold is up over 50% this year and investors have been flocking en-masse to any opportunity to get access to this precious metal, whether buying physical gold at bullion outlets or buying gold mining/exploration stocks on the ASX. ASX Gold ETFs are yet another option and they have been embraced – 2025 has been a record year of inflows with ~$1bn.

Let’s look at what investors need to know about ASX Gold ETFs. What are the upsides and downsides of ETFs compared to other options. And what are some of the top ones to consider?

What are the Best ASX Stocks to invest in right now?

Check our buy/sell tips

Should you invest in ASX Gold ETFs? Here’s what you need to consider

Just about all of the general benefits and drawbacks of ETFs apply to gold ETFs too. Let’s start with the benefits. You can buy them via a broker just like any other share/ETF. You don’t need to line up at a bullion store, you don’t need to store gold somewhere, nor do you need to buy several companies. And you may consider using a professional fund manager, but ETFs will offer the same benefits but with lower fees (i.e. 0.15-0.6% of FUM).

Now the drawbacks. They don’t generate dividends or income (just track the price of gold and/or individual companies exposed to the price of gold). The fund itself may store physical gold and so you will face storage/custody risk and it will be out of your control. Dependant on the ETF it will mirror the changes in the gold price or the portfolio so you may not get from investing in one or or two gold stocks that have a successful year. Because some perform better than others.

There are pros and cons for every investment option

Many of the advantages of ETFs can be disadvantages of other options and disadvantages of ETFs can be advantages of other options. If you invest in individual miners you can get extra upside if the company does well (i.e. better than expected operations/production, finds a major deposit, generates a solid scoping or feasibility study). Of course if things go pear-shaped, then you face downside.

If you invest in physical gold, you have direct ownership and control. Moreover you have a hedge against inflation. But you face storage costs, potentially insurance, and liquidity is not as easy as buying/selling futures, stocks or ETFs. And futures are very high risk and honestly shouldn’t be entered into my non-professional investors.

And so Should you invest in gold ETFs?

If your goal is portfolio diversification, hedge against inflation/uncertainty, or get “safe asset” exposure, then a physical‑gold ETF on the ASX is often the simplest and most efficient route.

If you believe strongly that gold prices will surge and you’re comfortable with higher risk for higher reward, then gold mining stocks/ETFs offer a “beta” play – but accept the extra volatility and company risks.

If you want full control and are prepared for storage and logistics, physical gold makes sense for a portion of your portfolio – but likely not as your main investment unless you’re in the “safe‑haven” mindset.

Futures/derivatives are more suited to traders/speculators rather than typical long‑term investors.

What are some of the ASX gold ETFs avaliable? And what do you need to consider?

Gold ETFs fall into 2 categories. One are those that are exposed to physical gold, and the other is those that invest in a portfolio of companies. The majority fall into the former and some of the options include Global X Physical Gold (ASX:GOLD), Perth Mint Gold Structured Product (ASX:PMGOLD), BetaShares Gold Bullion ETF (ASX:QAU), VanEck Gold Billion ETF (ASX:NUGG) and iShares Physical Gold ETF (ASX:GLDN).

It is the first of these (GOLD) that is the largest and most liquid but it is PMGOLD that has the lowest fee at 0.15%) Also consider that not all of these hold ‘allocated gold’ (i.e. they know how much gold there is) but others hold ‘unallocated gold’ where it is more complicated (i.e. sort of like an IoU). That is a crucial thing for investors to check.

Amongst gold mining ETFs, two include VanEck Gold Miners ETF (ASX:GDX) and BetaShares Global Gold Miners ETF (ASX:MNRS). Both of these have a global focus.

Now, it may be easy to ‘set and forget’ with these companies, but you shjould know what they invest in and what indice they track. Most ETFs will disclose the ‘Top 10’ as a minimum even if not the entire list. The active ones will track an indice but potentially be over or underweight in certain stocks, hoping to beat the benchmark. The passive ETFs will just replicate the benchmark as is.

Conclusion

Put the debate about where gold is headed aside (because this important to consider too). If you think gold is going up, you’ll obviously want a slice of the action and gold ETFs are one way, but one of several.

As noted above, gold ETFs may be the best option if you prefer a ‘set and forget’ method with broad exposure, but you still need to do due diligence. But you may not get as high returns as you may get with individual stocks.

This is not financial advice. Readers should obtain personal financial advice before making any investment decisions.