GDX vs RING

GDXBVanEck Gold Miners ETF

RINGBiShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF

In short

GDX The original gold miner ETF, running since 2006. Roughly 60 mining companies in one ticker, for people who want equity exposure to gold's economics rather than a bar in a vault.

RING The low-fee way to own the gold diggers. RING holds roughly 40 gold mining companies worldwide for 0.39% a year, undercutting most funds in its niche, and it has been running that playbook since 2012.

Stated mandate

GDX GDX seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index, which is designed to represent companies involved in gold mining.

RING The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Solactive Global Gold Explorers & Developers Total Return Index. It invests at least 80% of total assets in securities of companies economically tied to gold exploration.

Why people hold it

• GDX Launched in 2006, this is the elder statesman of gold mining funds: a multi-billion-dollar portfolio that is very actively traded, which usually means easy entries and exits.
• Owns the diggers, not the metal. It tracks the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index, roughly 60 companies whose profits swing on the gap between gold prices and mining costs.
• At a 0.51% expense ratio it sits right at the typical price for a precious-metals miner fund, and it grades in the top quartile of its 18-fund peer group.

• RING At 0.39% a year it charges less than the typical gold-miner fund, and less than VanEck's GDX and GDXJ, the category's best-known names.ishares.com
• Pure play by design: the index targets companies primarily in the business of gold mining, so you get miners rather than a mixed metals-and-materials basket.ishares.com
• The mandate is global, not US-only, so the portfolio can reach gold producers listed across developed and emerging markets.ishares.com
• Live since 2012, a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and one of the strongest builds in its precious-metals miner peer group.

Worth knowing

• GDX Cheaper shelf-mates exist. RING covers global gold miners at 0.39%, so you are paying a bit extra here, largely for scale and trading depth.
• Miner stocks are not bullion. They carry operating costs, debt, labor and country risk on top of the gold price, so moves tend to be sharper in both directions.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, so this is an equity growth vehicle rather than a steady income line.

• RING Roughly 40 stocks in a single industry. The largest miners carry real weight, so one company's bad quarter is felt across the fund.ishares.com
• This is mining equity, not bullion. Alongside the gold price you take on company execution, mine geology, labor and country risk.ishares.com
• Income is an afterthought here: distributions come once or twice a year, not monthly.

Full GDX profile⁠

Full RING profile⁠