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Comparison tool · Updated through the trading day
Gold mining funds are often sold as a way to own gold. Enter any amount and see how they actually compared with the metal itself, over any period since each fund launched.
Choose a fund, enter the amount, pick a period and press Calculate.
Results for
Spot price per troy ounce.
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Year by year
Mining funds can beat gold in a strong year and fall much further in a weak one. Each row shows the change over that calendar year. The check marks the leader.
| Year | Gold | GDX |
|---|
GDX, GDXJ and SGDLX hold shares of mining companies, not gold. A miner's profit depends on the gold price, but also on its costs, debt, management and the countries it operates in. Mining shares are stocks, so they can fall with the stock market even in years when gold rises.
Because a miner's costs are largely fixed, a rising gold price can lift its profits faster than the metal itself. The same math works in reverse when gold falls, which is why the funds have seen much deeper drops than gold in weak years. The year by year table shows how often that has happened.
A fund share is a claim on a portfolio managed by someone else. Physical gold is a tangible asset with no company or manager standing between you and its value. In a Gold IRA, the coins and bars are held for you at an approved depository.
Investors often hold physical gold as the steady, defensive part of a portfolio and leave growth to stocks. If that is the role you want gold to play, owning the metal itself is the most direct way to do it. Our free guide explains how to hold it in a retirement account.
We take each asset's weekly closing price at the start and end of the period and grow your amount by the same percentage. Physical gold is the spot price per troy ounce. The funds use prices adjusted for their distributions, as if every dividend and capital gain payout were reinvested, which is the fairest way to compare them. Fund results are after each fund's own expenses; gold results do not include storage or dealer costs. Neither includes taxes.
For educational purposes only. Advantage Gold is not a registered investment adviser, and nothing on this page is investment, tax or legal advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and precious metals involve risk. Please consult your own financial professional before making any investment decision.
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Free investment guide
Rollovers, eligible coins, storage and fees, all explained in plain English. Free, with no obligation.