# Precious metals MF vs Gold ETF



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

I hold for several years TD Precious metals MF.... for last year was planning to sell it and buy similar ETF, but when I do reserch, I cannot find any good ETF. Any suggestion when I can move money from this MF?
It's about 4K, so I cannot split it between dif equities


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## Belguy (May 24, 2010)

I hold the RBC Global Precious Metals fund according to my target asset allocation.

http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf1038_e.pdf


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Belguy said:


> I hold the RBC Global Precious Metals fund according to my target asset allocation.
> 
> http://funds.rbcgam.com/pdf/fund-pages/monthly/rbf1038_e.pdf


This one performed even worse than TD Prec metal in 1 and 3 years


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## Argonaut (Dec 7, 2010)

Performing substantially better than both of them is the good old GLD. Easy to recommend if you have USD.


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

iShares Global Gold ETF (XGD) might be worth looking into. I don't know how it stacks up against other precious metals funds though. Also, there probably are more precious metal ETFs.


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## Mike59 (May 22, 2010)

Oh the number of hours I've spent studying these funds! Unfortunately, your break even point for switching to an ETF may be with a much higher balance than 4k, especially if you plan to add more to the fund.

There are at least a dozen mutual funds holding gold stocks, most have relatively high MERs above 2. The MFs vary and it's important to gauge the exposure to small and large caps. They are a good tool to begin your exposure until you have a large enough base to trade ETFs. 

As far as ETFs go, i pay attention to XGD, and hold ZJG. Other ETFs likely have very low volumes and I'd steer clear.

Although GLD is a strong pefformer , some skeptics in the metals community question if all the metal backing it is actually there. For that reason I'd hold physical directly otherwise CEF.A, CGL, or SVR.UN for a pure bullion play that's actually audited and verified.


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## leoc2 (Dec 28, 2010)

Royal Canadian Mint -- MNT.to. Mer = 0.35. 
http://www.reserves.mint.ca/Content/documents/en/ETR - Information Statement.pdf

If you want to hold many junior miners and oil companies. XVX - ISHARES SP TSX VENTURE INDEX FUND. Volume is low. Expensive Mer = 0.79.
http://ca.ishares.com/product_info/fund/overview/XVX.htm?fundSearch=true&qt=XVX


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## fatcat (Nov 11, 2009)

belguy, why pay 1.27% when you can get a similar (different weighting to be sure) product for .55% ?

i don't follow gold enough to know whether the XGD mix is better than the RBC but i tend to like the XGD better since it has 30% in 2 of the best big players


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

CanadianCapitalist said:


> iShares Global Gold ETF (XGD) might be worth looking into. I don't know how it stacks up against other precious metals funds though. Also, there probably are more precious metal ETFs.


This is the point that except XGD there is practically - nothing. XGD is capped (3 holdings about 40%). There are no any weighted ETF. The only alternative weighted is HEP, and I like their allocation, but this one with covered calls, so I'm not sure if it's a good choice.... I hold HEX and HEE , and if HEE is not too bad, HEX is a big disappointment. Yes, HEP paying about 15% dividends, but not sure if you can count on it, one month they pat 0.18/per dhare and other 0.08/share.


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## fatcat (Nov 11, 2009)

this is such a tough call, i still see both cases for gold, up and down

if you decide its up and want to get in then you are stuck choosing equities or the physical

and then do you choose the juniors or the seniors or should you stick with physical ?

surely equities are finally going to catch up but we have been saying that for a long time ... this is what still makes me nervous ... it strikes as a vote against the long term viability of gold

i heard an interesting interview with alan greenspan on bloomberg ( http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/News/Surveillance/vXJwI8K4GhwA.mp3) and he practically had the shakes when he was talking about greece, seriously this guy normally is fairly monotone but you could hear the emotion in his voice when it came to greece falling and then the possibility of portugal and ireland ... it really has him rattled and that makes me nervous as well

but even if it happens i can still see a case against gold (though in truth i think it might be time to get back in)

i think i'll go get under my bed ....


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## Argonaut (Dec 7, 2010)

Mike59 said:


> Although GLD is a strong pefformer , some skeptics in the metals community question if all the metal backing it is actually there. For that reason I'd hold physical directly otherwise CEF.A, CGL, or SVR.UN for a pure bullion play that's actually audited and verified.


Seen the vault on a TV special, looks great. I would voluntarily live there, rocking back and forth and muttering, "my precious"..


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