science

SPDR Gold Shares

SPDR Gold Shares is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SPDR Gold Shares rather than just read about it. In short: 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.

Key takeaways

SPDR Gold Shares belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SPDR Gold Shares to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SPDR Gold Shares from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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 April 2026, it remains in the top ten. This ETF denotes a fixed amount 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 a troy 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.

History In November 2004, the fund was listed (under the name streetTRACKS Gold Shares) on the New York Stock Exchange by State Street Global Advisors with World Gold Council sponsorship. Since 13 December 2007 and following a name change on 20 May 2008, SPDR Gold Shares has traded on NYSE Arca (NYSE Arca: GLD). It also trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK: 2840), Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX:GLD 10US$), and Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO: 1326). In June 2018, State Street started the Gold MiniShares (NYSE Arca: GLDM) Trust with a lower expense ratio of 0.18% and a lower NAV at one-hundredth the price of an ounce of gold.

Competitors SPDR Gold Shares competes with iShares Gold Trust (NYSE Arca: IAU). There is also iShares Silver Trust (NYSE Arca: SLV).

Management The Trust's gold bullion is stored as London Good Delivery gold bars (400 oz.) and held in their vault in London or by several custodians worldwide. The ETF pays an expense charge of 0.40% per annum.

See also ETF Securities Gold as an investment

References

External links Official website Gold IRA Companies SPDR Gold Trust Volume Charts Yahoo! Finance page for GLD Bloomberg page for GLD:US Reuters page for SPDR Gold Shares Morningstar page for SPDR Gold Shares

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SPDR Gold Shares

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SPDR Gold Shares claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SPDR Gold Shares before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SPDR Gold Shares ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SPDR Gold Shares

In research: SPDR Gold Shares appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SPDR Gold Shares in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SPDR Gold Shares is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2004 establishments in the United States, Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SPDR Gold Shares outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SPDR Gold Shares in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SPDR Gold Shares means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SPDR Gold Shares out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SPDR Gold Shares in simple terms?

Why does SPDR Gold Shares matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SPDR Gold Shares?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SPDR Gold Shares.