You may not have heard of royalty companies, but they’re a great way to invest in gold

Royalty companies provide funding to gold miners in exchange for a share of production revenues. And they have been performing much better than the miners. Dominic Frisby picks the best bets in this little-known sector.

Molten gold being poured from a crucible
Royalty companies fund miners in exchange for a share of production
(Image credit: © Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

We tend to think there are two means by which to invest in gold. Via the metal – coins, bars, futures and so on – or via a company that mines it. The metal is the safer option, but (assuming it all goes right, which often isn’t the case) you make greater returns with the mining company, though with greater risk.

There is a third way. In terms of risk, it stands somewhere between metal and miner: the royalty company. And this is the option I’d like to consider today.

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Dominic Frisby

Dominic Frisby (“mercurially witty” – the Spectator) is as far as we know the world’s only financial writer and comedian. He is the author of the popular newsletter the Flying Frisby and is MoneyWeek’s main commentator on gold, commodities, currencies and cryptocurrencies. He has also taken several of his shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

His books are Daylight Robbery - How Tax Changed our Past and Will Shape our Future; Bitcoin: the Future of Money? and Life After the State - Why We Don't Need Government

Dominic was educated at St Paul's School, Manchester University and the Webber-Douglas Academy Of Dramatic Art. You can follow him on X @dominicfrisby