Today’s ETF Talk features the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (RING), a solid, serviceable gold mining fund that offers investors all the advantages and disadvantages that they might expect of a precious metals fund. RING is part of the same family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners ETF (SLVP), a silver fund that was featured in my previous ETF Talk.
Structurally, the two funds are very similar. Both invest in diversified precious metals portfolios all over the world. RING’s portfolio consists of close to 40 different positions from many countries, including top holdings in Canada, South Africa and Australia.
Year to date, RING has achieved a gain of 77.92%. This is a strong gain compared to the general market, considering S&P 500’s year-to-date gain is only 2.51%, but comparable to the performance of other gold funds in the same period.
In light of recent stronger performance and good news from the overall market, RING’s performance has petered out a bit, as it has fallen by 3.18% over the last month.
The fund pays a 0.50% dividend yield and its expense ratio is 0.39%.
View the current price, volume, performance and top 10 holdings of RING at ETFU.com.
RING’s top 10 holdings are Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), 15.01%; Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM), 12.97%; Goldcorp Inc. (G), 10.14%; Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM), 7.44%; Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM), 4.75%; AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG), 4.68%; RandGold Resources Ltd. (RRS), 4.27%, Kinross Gold Corp (K), 4.18%, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI), 3.99%; and Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), 3.03%.
RING differs from some funds in that the companies it invests in do not always have their performances closely linked to the underlying price of gold.
If you are bullish on gold and wish to invest into a relatively stable fund without immense risk, I encourage you to take a closer look at iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (RING) on your own.
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As always, I am happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to send me an e-mail. You just may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk.
