5 gold ETFs for simple exposure

Gold ETFs are a simple, accessible means of gaining exposure to one of the most important commodities. They can be bought and held in your ISA, and don’t bring any concerns over storage or insurance.

That makes gold ETFs one of the easiest ways for individual investors to invest in gold, or at least gain exposure to its price movements.

The gold price has reached new highs in 2025, gaining 33% over the past 12 months, with gold now trading at over $3,300 per troy ounce. Positive capital flows into gold ETFs have been one of the drivers for these gold price gains, but the macroeconomic backdrop is also supportive of gold.

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Investing in the precious metal has long been seen as a proactive hedge against high inflation and economic uncertainty, and there is plenty of that around at the moment. UK inflation hit 3.8% in July, its highest rate in 18 months.

Since 2022, elevated geopolitical instability has prompted central banks to lift the rate at which they buy gold, boosting demand and raising gold prices.

More recently, Donald Trump’s tariffs have plunged global markets into turmoil, increasing gold’s appeal as a safe haven asset.

“Gold has become an island of stability in a seemingly more chaotic world,” said Tom Bailey, head of research at HANetf. “Trump’s tariffs triggered price declines in stocks and bonds, leaving gold as a safe haven.”

Greater clarity around the post-liberation day tariff regime is approaching. Moreover, hopes for a Ukraine peace deal are rising. These could calm some of the tensions that have seen gold prices rise.

But Paul Syms, head of EMEA ETF fixed income and commodity product management at Invesco, believes that this wouldn’t necessarily lead gold prices to fall.

“There are other sources [of geopolitical tension],” he says, particularly the conflict in the Middle East. “If we see any further weakness in the dollar, or we see the Fed easing rates more aggressively than is currently priced in, that could remain supportive [of gold prices].”

Most experts recommend holding somewhere between 2% and 10% of your portfolio in gold, given its volatility and the fact that it pays no interest. There are various ways to gain this exposure in your portfolio.

How to add gold to your portfolio

So how can you add gold to your portfolio? One option is to stock up on jewellery or buy gold bullion, in the form of physical coins or bars. That will give you some nice shiny trinkets to hold and admire, but it can be expensive and there is the worry of storing them safely.

You could also buy shares in gold miners. But these often don’t track the price of gold very closely, meaning you aren’t getting the best exposure, plus you need to worry about choosing the best stock and trading and platform fees. Mining is a very cyclical business that regularly fluctuates from boom to bust, so it can be very volatile.

Gold ETFs and ETCs: The simple way to invest in gold

An alternative is to invest in a gold exchange-traded fund (ETF). This is a fund that aims to track the price of gold.

There are various categories of gold ETF but for the sake of simplicity we will outline two broad categories here: gold equity ETFs and gold exchange-traded commodities (ETCs).

A gold equity ETF is an ETF that holds shares in gold miners. It operates the same way as any other ETF would, and its value is pegged to the value of its component stocks.

Gold ETCs simply track the spot price of gold itself. Their price changes depending on changes in the price of gold. Most of these are “physically backed”, meaning that they hold physical gold to underwrite the value of the ETC.

There are three key advantages of investing in gold using ETCs, says Syms: they are “very low-cost, very liquid and very efficient”.

ETFs and ETCs trade on stock exchanges throughout the day, meaning you will always be able to buy and sell them, with fees relatively low for passive products. You can buy them from almost every broker or on a DIY investing platform and they can often be held in a SIPP or an ISA.

“If you compare that to how else you could get exposure to gold, you could buy the physical metals and store them yourself, but you’ve got to be concerned about insurance, what you’re paying for that gold and what you might be able to sell it for at any point in the future.” Gold bars and coins, he says, tend to face higher trading costs.

5 gold ETFs and ETCs to consider

1. HANetf Royal Mint Responsibly Sourced Physical Gold ETC – RMAP

One of the biggest issues with gold is its environmental footprint. It requires a lot of energy to dig up, refine and store gold. There are also issues around potential labour abuses in the supply chain.

The HANetf Royal Mint Responsibly Sourced Physical Gold ETC (LON:RMAP) tries to deal with these issues for investors. It only owns 100% post-2019 LBMA-approved gold bars. These are bars from refiners that "have been found, when originally tested, to meet the required standard for acceptability in the London bullion market”.

The Mint is also building the world's first plant to recover gold from electronic waste, creating circular economy gold with a low environmental footprint. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and charges just 0.25% per annum.

2. Invesco Physical Gold ETC – SGLD

The Invesco Physical Gold ETC (LON:SGLD) invests in physical gold kept by JP Morgan Chase Bank’s vaults in London. The ongoing charge is 0.12%.

3. WisdomTree Physical Gold – PHGP

Wisdom Tree Physical Gold (LON:PHGP) is a physically-backed gold ETC that comes in two flavours. PHGP is denominated in sterling and is backed by physical gold held by HSBC Bank. WisdomTree Physical Gold Individual Securities ETC (LON:PHAU) is essentially the same fund denominated in US dollars. Both ETCs carry the same ongoing charge of 0.39%.

4. WisdomTree Physical Swiss Gold – SGBS

If you’d rather have your gold stored in Switzerland, the WisdomTree Physical Swiss Gold ETC (LON: SGBS) stores its gold in secure vaults in Zurich on behalf of JP Morgan Chase Bank. The ongoing charge is 0.15%.

5. VanEck Gold Miners ETF – GDX

All the products above are physically-backed ETCs. They’ll track changes in the price of gold, but won’t give you any exposure to gold miners.

"Investors may want to consider investing in gold mining stocks via passive ETF such as the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (LON:GDX)," says Dzmitry Lipski, head of funds research at Interactive Investor.

"However, investors should be aware that physical gold and gold mining stocks are quite different asset classes.

"While physical gold is better for inflation hedging and diversification, gold mining stocks provide operating leverage for investors comfortable with greater risk. As the gold price appreciates, the mining company's margins improve, so the potential return to investors likely goes up at a faster rate than the rise in gold.

“In this case, mining stocks become a better option than holding physical gold."

Using an ETF to buy gold mining stocks decreases some of the company risk involved in trying to pick individual mining stocks. In other words, you are buying exposure to the gold mining sector, which ought to follow gold price movements broadly, rather than buying one particular gold mining company which could underperform the gold market simply because it is poorly managed.

The funds mentioned above can be held in an ISA or a SIPP.