GDXY vs IGLD

GDXYCYieldMax Gold Miners Option Income Strategy ETF

IGLDAFT Vest Gold Strategy Target Income ETF

In short

GDXY Most gold-income funds write options on bullion. GDXY writes call spreads on the miners instead, collecting premium while leaving room to participate when the shares run past the spread. The option-income playbook, pointed at gold's equity cousin.

IGLD Gold that pays you monthly. IGLD holds Treasuries plus options tied to the SPDR Gold Trust, chasing bullion's price moves while selling calls to fund a monthly distribution. Running since 2021.

Stated mandate

GDXY GDXY seeks weekly income by selling call spreads on the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX), while retaining participation in GDX share-price appreciation.

IGLD The fund seeks participation in the price returns of SPDR Gold Trust while providing consistent income. It invests mainly in U.S. Treasury securities and a subsidiary holding exchange-traded options referencing that gold ETF.

Why people hold it

• GDXY Sells call spreads rather than plain covered calls, so upside is given up inside the strike band while moves beyond it can still come through.
• Targets gold miners (GDX) instead of the metal, unlike cohort peers IAUI, IGLD and YGLD, which build their income around gold itself.
• Actively traded for a fund launched in 2024, and it stands in the upper half of its gold-income options peer group.
• Income is distributed on a recurring schedule rather than saved for a year-end lump, which is the whole design brief here.

• IGLD An early mover in gold options-income. Launched in 2021, it has run its call-selling engine through real gold cycles, not a backtest.ftportfolios.com
• 0.85% a year undercuts the typical fee in the gold options-income crowd.
• Plain plumbing: Treasuries as collateral, a subsidiary holding the gold options, all inside a standard 1940 Act fund. No K-1 partnership paperwork.ftportfolios.com
• Distributions land monthly, and the fund sits among the stronger builds in its peer group for doing what its documents say.

Worth knowing

• GDXY The 1.00% expense ratio sits right at the cohort median, and cheaper routes to gold option income exist, including YGLD at 0.53% and IAUI at 0.79%.
• Exposure is synthetic: the fund runs an options book on GDX rather than owning miner shares, so the option positions drive what holders actually get.
• Premium collected rises and falls with gold-miner volatility, and with a 2024 launch there is only a short record to judge the strategy against.

• IGLD No bars in a vault here. Exposure comes from options referencing a gold ETF, and the calls sold to fund income trim how much of a gold rally you keep.ftportfolios.com
• Part of a payout can be return of capital, which is your own money coming back and lowers your cost basis.ftportfolios.com
• Not the cheapest seat in the room: YGLD charges 0.53% for its own gold-plus-income spin.

Full GDXY profile⁠

Full IGLD profile⁠