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AAAU

GradeBChicago Board Options Exchange

Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF

Commodities · Goldman · Inception 2018-07-26 · SEC filings

$42.23−0.79 (−1.84%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 3:15 PM EDT

Intraday session: down, 70 prints from 43.02 to 42.23. Range 42.14 to 42.49. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$42.10$42.30$42.40$42.5010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.18%
Fund size
$2.8B
1Y return
+16.3%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Volume · 30D
1.5M sh
NAV per share
$42.62
52W range
low $36.71high $54.71

The ETF.net AAAU Grade

B

67/ 100

Rank 3 of 10 in Physical Gold⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for AAAU. Scores out of 100: Cost 59, Risk 50, Mission 100, Tradability 57, Holdings not scored, Durability 41. Strongest: Mission (100). Weakest: Durability (41). Based on 5 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 67 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.

  • Cost

    What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.
    BScore 59
    Category rank4/10 · top 40%

  • Mission

    How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.
    AScore 100
    Category rank1/9 · top 11%

  • Risk

    How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.
    CScore 50
    Category rank1/9 · top 11%

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    BScore 57
    Category rank5/10 · top 50%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    Not scored
    —

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    CScore 41
    Category rank8/10 · bottom quartile

Graded as of Sep 22, 2026 · Based on 5 of 6 pillars

Our read on AAAU

ETF.net Research

BGoldman's bullion box. AAAU holds physical gold and its shares are built to reflect the metal's price minus a 0.18% fee. No manager, no strategy, no index games. Open since 2018 and now a multi-billion-dollar trust.

Stated mandate

The Shares are designed to reflect the price of gold, less the Trust’s operating expenses. The Trust is not actively managed.

Why people hold it

  1. 01One job, plainly done: the trust holds physical gold and its shares are designed to reflect gold's price less operating expenses. Not actively managed.
  2. 02A multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, the kind of scale and turnover that helps keep the share price tethered to the bullion behind it.
  3. 03Trading since 2018 with Goldman Sachs as sponsor: an established wrapper, not a recent launch hoping to gather assets.

Worth knowing

  1. 01Not the cheapest bullion on the shelf. GLDM and IAUM charge roughly a tenth of a percent and FGDL runs at zero, against 0.18% here.
  2. 02No income here. The trust has paid no distributions, so the entire result rides on the metal's price.
  3. 03Expenses come off the top: shares reflect gold's price less the trust's costs, a small ongoing drag that compounds the longer you hold.

AAAU Holdings

As of Sep 20, 2026, 6:05 AM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
—
Top-10 weight
100%
Largest holding
Physical Gold100.0%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—Physical Gold100.00%0$2.8B8

Showing 1–1 of 1 holdings

AAAU Performance

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

AAAU$11,627
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,723
Sep 22, 2025 to Sep 22, 2026. AAAU $11,627. SPY $11,723. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$9,143$11,956$14,769Sep 2025Mar 2026Sep 2026

Sep 22, 2025 – Sep 22, 2026

Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.

Trailing total return for AAAU. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodAAAU
Year to date+1.1%
1 month−5.5%
3 months+4.2%
1 year+16.3%
3 years+31.1%per year
5 years+19.6%per year
10 yearsFund is under 10 years old—per year

As of the close, with distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for AAAU
YearReturn barAAAU
2026 YTD+1.1%
2025+64.0%
2024+27.0%
2023+12.9%
2022−0.5%
2021−4.0%
2020+25.0%

AAAU in the news

ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on AAAU yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.

AAAU Dividends

This fund pays no distributions.
—Last 12 months
Payout per share
—Last 12 months

No distributions in the last 12 months.

AAAU Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
18.7%
Annualised · 36 months to Aug 2026
How it’s calculated: standard deviation

The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
1.34
vs 3-month T-bills · to Aug 2026
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio

Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.

Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−26.3%
Trough Jul 2026
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown

The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.

Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
0.31
vs its asset-class index
How it’s calculated: beta

The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.

AAAU Cost

Expense ratio0.18%
  • The middle half of Physical Gold funds
  • Median 0.17%

5 of the 10 Physical Gold funds charge less.

AAAU costs $18.00 a year on $10,000. The median Physical Gold fund costs $17.50.