GDXJ vs RING

GDXJBVanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF

RINGBiShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF

In short

GDXJ The junior tier of the gold trade. GDXJ tracks an index of small-cap gold and silver miners, about 120 names worldwide, and has done so since 2009. It owns the up-and-comers rather than the household-name majors.

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

GDXJ GDXJ seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index, which represents small-capitalization companies primarily engaged in gold and/or silver 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

• GDXJ Small by design: the index covers companies primarily engaged in gold and/or silver mining at the small-capitalization end, roughly 120 of them across global markets.
• Silver rides along. The mandate covers gold and/or silver miners, so the basket is broader precious metals than the name suggests.
• One of the busiest tickets in the junior-miner niche: a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades very actively, which matters when the whole sector moves at once.
• 0.52% a year sits right at the median for precious-metals miner funds, and roughly the same sticker as VanEck's large-cap sibling GDX at 0.51%.

• 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

• GDXJ Junior miners are the jumpy end of a jumpy sector: smaller companies, fewer mines, and moves that can run far wider than the metal itself.
• Income is not the story here. Distributions land once or twice a year at most.
• Average price, not a bargain. Cheaper miner funds exist in the group, including RING at 0.39%.

• 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 GDXJ profile⁠

Full RING profile⁠