OK, I may be “WOLS” (internet-speak for being slow on the news), but I would like to highlight that from 14 Jan 2019 onwards, you are able to purchase the State Street Global Advisors SPDR Gold Trust (or better known as the SPDR GLD ETF) in lot size of 5 shares, down from the previous lot size of 10. According to an announcement by State Street Global Advisors on 10 Dec 20181, this reduction allows “…more Singaporeans, including Central Provident Fund (CPF) Investment Scheme members, to efficiently invest in gold…”. It also emphasized that gold “…historically acted as a portfolio diversifier, particularly during times of market volatility”, which I agree as I am a believer of diversification. So what does this mean for The Bedokian Portfolio investors? There are two issues which I will mention here. Issue #1: Bedokian Portfolio Starting Amount In my eBook, I used the SPDR GLD...
“you are able to purchase the State Street Global Advisors SPDR Gold Trust (or better known as the SPDR GLD ETF)”
I’ve been trying to do my due diligence into the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). Anyone know why there is a clause in the GLD prospectus that states GLD has no right to audit subcustodial gold holdings? Why would the organizations behind GLD forfeit this right and create such a glaring audit loophole? I have not heard a single good reason for the existence of this loophole thus far. It also doesn’t help that GLD claims to be fully backed by physical gold bullion but yet it refuses to give retail investors the right to redeem for any of these ‘claimed’ gold bullion. There are a number of other red flags as well from what I’m reading:
“Did anyone try calling the GLD hotline at 866▪320▪4053 in search of numerical details on GLD’s insurance? The prospectus vaguely states “The Custodian maintains insurance with regard to its business on such terms and conditions as it considers appropriate which does not cover the full amount of gold held in custody.” When I asked about how much of the gold was insured, the representative proceeded to act as if he didn’t know and said they were just the “marketing agent” for GLD. What kind of marketing agent would not know such basic information about a product they are marketing? It seems like they are deliberately hiding information from investors.”
“I remember there was a well documented visit by CNBC’s Bob Pisani to GLD’s gold vault. This visit was organized by GLD’s management to prove the existence of GLD’s gold but the gold bar held up by Mr. Pisani had the serial number ZJ6752 which did not appear on the most recent bar list at that time. It was later discovered that this “GLD” bar was actually owned by ETF Securities.”