How do precious metals compare to Exchange Traded Funds?
There are clear disadvantages to choosing precious metals ETFs’ over physical bars, coins and rounds. ETF’s do not always guarantee that you own physical precious metals. For example, an investor needs to own more than 100,000 shares of the SPDR (GLD) Gold ETF in order to take physical delivery. Most ETF depositories are located overseas, so shipping, insurance and customs are expensive and time consuming. ETF’s also have annual management costs and high tax implications.
