<div id="readability-page-1"><div> <h2>Key Points</h2><ul><li>The SPDR Gold Trust is the world’s largest gold ETF.</li><li>But its high fees make it less attractive than the smaller gold ETFs.</li><li>10 stocks we like better than SPDR Gold Shares ›</li></ul>The price of gold hit an all-time high of about $5,600 per ounce this January. It's pulled back to about $4,680 as of this writing, but it's still up 40% over the past 12 months. That rally was driven by the Fed's six interest rate cuts in 2024 and 2025, which weakened the U.S. dollar and boosted gold's value; as well as investors flocking to gold as a safe-haven asset amid escalating geopolitical conflicts, trade wars, tariffs, elevated inflation, and other macro headwinds.One of the easiest ways to profit from that trend without buying physical gold bars is to invest in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of gold. The most popular gold ETF is the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: GLD), which was launched in 2004. With $157.5 billion in assets, it's also the world's largest gold ETF by a wide margin -- but is it still the best one for investors?Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an &#34;Indispensable Monopoly&#34; providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg2NjkxNS9nZXR0eWltYWdlcy0yMTY4OTMyODc2LmpwZyZ3PTcwMA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="700" height="381" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg2NjkxNS9nZXR0eWltYWdlcy0yMTY4OTMyODc2LmpwZyZ3PTcwMA"/>Image source: Getty Images. <h2>GLD's biggest strengths and weaknesses</h2>The SPDR Gold Trust holds physical gold bars at its vaults in London. Each share of the ETF represents a fractional ownership of that gold. It allows a handful of institutional investors to redeem their shares for physical gold, but most of its other investors don't have that privilege.Many active traders and institutional investors prefer GLD over other gold ETFs because it has the most liquidity, the tightest bid-ask spreads, and the deepest options market. Since institutions widely hold it, it's easy to quickly trade large positions.But GLD isn't the best option for retail investors looking for a gold ETF to buy, hold, and forget, as its gross expense ratio of 0.40% is much higher than that of comparable ETFs. Those fees reduce the ETF's returns over time, causing it to underperform the spot price of gold. Over the past five years, GLD has rallied 152%, but gold's price has risen 163%.Some cheaper gold ETFs include the iShares Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: IAU) and GraniteShares Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: BAR), which charge sponsor fees of 0.25% and 0.17%, respectively. IAU manages $72.6 billion in assets, making it the second-largest gold ETF after GLD. BAR is a smaller ETF with $1.6 billion in assets. Both of these ETFs have risen about 154% over the past five years and outperformed GLD, and that gap will widen over the long term. Simply put, GLD is a simple way to invest in gold -- but anyone who isn't an active trader or institutional investor should stick with IAU, BAR, or other ETFs that charge much lower fees.<h2>Should you buy stock in SPDR Gold Shares right now?</h2> Before you buy stock in SPDR Gold Shares, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and SPDR Gold Shares wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $492,752!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,327,935!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 991% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 201% for the S&amp;P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2026. Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. </div></div>

The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is the largest gold ETF but has high fees that make it less appealing compared to smaller ETFs like iShares Gold Trust (IAU) and GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR). Despite gold's price rising 40% over the past year, GLD's expense ratio of 0.40% leads to underperformance against gold's spot price. For retail investors, lower-fee options like IAU and BAR are recommended. Analysts suggest considering other stocks over GLD for better investment returns.

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GLD: Still Gold's Best ETF Play?