As gold prices soar day after day, major asset management firms have successively launched 'gold spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).' Until now, the gold ETFs listed in the country had mostly been products that track futures prices, but as competition in the gold spot ETF market intensifies, fees are continuously trending down.
According to the financial investment industry on the 17th, Mirae Asset Global Investments will list the 'TIGER KRX Gold Spot Special Asset Listed Index Investment Trust (Gold)' on the 24th. This product is an ETF that tracks the KRX Gold Spot Index, which is calculated and announced by the Korea Exchange. The fees for the gold spot ETF being prepared by Mirae Asset are set lower than those of the already listed gold spot ETFs.
Initially, Mirae Asset had kept open the possibility of listing next month, but it has expedited the listing schedule. As geopolitical uncertainty continues amid escalating military conflicts between Israel and Iran, gold prices have been hitting record highs day after day, prompting the company to hasten the listing.
Previously, Samsung and Shinhan Asset Management listed the 'KODEX Gold Active ETF' and 'SOL International Gold ETF' on the same day, both tracking gold spot prices. While Mirae Asset tracks the KRX Gold Spot Index, the Samsung and Shinhan ETFs differ in that they are based on international gold spot indices.
With Mirae Asset's participation, the number of ETFs tracking gold spot prices will increase to four. The first listed gold spot ETF was the 'ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF' launched by Korea Investment Management in 2021.
As related products increase, competition for 'fee reduction' has heated up. Until now, the only gold spot ETF, the ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF, had total fees and management fees of 0.5% and 0.44%, respectively, but the total fees and management fees of the newly listed gold spot ETFs are lower than these.
The total fees for both the KODEX Gold Active ETF and SOL International Gold ETF are 0.3%. This is 0.2 percentage points lower than the total fees of the ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF. The management fees are also lower at 0.26% and 0.25%, respectively, down approximately 0.18-0.17 percentage points.
Next week, the total fees for the ETF presented by Mirae Asset Global Investments are expected to be lower than these. The total fees for the gold spot ETF launched by Mirae Asset Global Investments are 0.15%, with management fees of 0.109%. The total fees are 0.35 percentage points lower compared to the total fees of the similar structure of Korea Investment Trust Management's gold spot ETF and 0.15 percentage points lower compared to the gold spot ETFs of Samsung Asset Management and Shinhan Asset Management.
A source in the financial investment industry noted, 'Recently, investment funds are flowing into gold, creating a favorable environment for investors as products diversify and fees decrease,' but added, 'However, if competition intensifies, the burden on management firms could increase.'