This article is based on a presentation by Chris Berlet at the Resourcing Tomorrow conference in London on 2-4 December 2025. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
“Where news strikes gold” is the motto of Mining.com.au. Our raison d’être is to provide our readers with actionable insights about listed explorers and producers in the mining and metals industry.
Of course, this is not the complete picture. Gold is not the only metal (or commodity) that can reward investors.
Further, investors do not have to invest directly into stocks in order to access mining and metals. They can invest in a managed fund that holds stocks. They can invest in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds stocks. Alternatively, they can invest in an ETF or another exchange-traded product that invests in a metal or commodity.
An obvious question from financial markets is: what are the big trends?
Sidebar: What is what?
A managed fund is an investment fund that has shares or units owned by investors but is managed by a fund manager or professional portfolio manager. A professional money manager oversees the account, makes investment decisions for the fund and is responsible for trading activity within the fund.
Conversely, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an investment fund that holds multiple underlying assets and can be bought and sold on an exchange, much like an individual stock. ETFs can be structured to track anything from the price of a commodity to a large and diverse collection of stocks.
Gold ETFs: where the action is
Metal and mining ETFs date back to November 2004, with the launch of SPDR Gold (NYSE:GLD). Since then, they have grown to become a very substantial asset class. As of mid-November, the assets under management (AUM) of all 240 of the world’s Metal and Mining ETFs have risen to US$580 billion ($870billion).
These amounts are dominated by a relatively small number of large ETFs that focus on particular metals. Some 77 ETFs that invest in gold bullion have AUM of US$412 billion. For ETFs that invest in silver, the corresponding figures are 20 and US$47 billion respectively.
Another 32 ETFs invest in precious metals, critical metals, platinum group metals (PGMs), and industrial metals: they have a combined AUM of US$23 billion.
A subgroup of metal and mining ETFs track indices by investing in underlying stocks. Of these ETFs, 25 focus on companies that produce precious metals: their combined AUM is US$51 billion. Another 23 ETFs, with AUM of US$18 billion, invest in miners of critical minerals. Some five ETFs focus on companies that produce industrial metals: their AUM is US$5 billion.
A long tail of ETFs – some 58 – invest in currency-hedged metals or leveraged positions. In aggregate, their AUM amounts to about US$21 billion.
Chris Berlet, President & CIO of research firm Mineral Fund Advisory notes, “investors globally recognise the advantages of ETFs. They provide access to metals and stocks at low cost. They are priced continuously. They are transparent.”
“NYSE Arca is the largest exchange for metal and mining ETFs, accounting for 56% of AUM. The London Stock Exchange accounts for another 20% or so. Deutsche Börse’s Xetra, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the SIX Swiss exchange each account for 4-6% of these ETFs’ AUM. Mining and metals ETFs are also listed on several other exchanges around the world.”
The listing agents for ETFs that invest in metals and mining are innovating continually. The last year or so has seen the introduction of new copper-themed ETFs, and new actively managed ETFs. In China and India, demand for ETFs that invest in gold and silver metal has grown strongly. The first gold equity ETF has been launched in China.
“As yet, we have seen very few ETFs that focus on critical minerals – and this is in spite of the recent surge in publicity surrounding them,” Chris Berlet adds.
“There are no potash, cobalt, graphite, minor metal or rare earth element ETFs. There are, however, some pure uranium investment vehicles and there is no reason we cannot see further rapid developments in this space.”
Crucially, ETFs have grown to a size where they are massive relative to managed funds and listed equities. The first managed fund to focus on the sector was the VanEck International Investors Gold Fund, which was launched in January 1956.
In spite of the long pedigree of managed funds, metal and mining ETFs’ collective AUM is almost 20 times larger. The combined AUM of gold ETFs is about four times the market capitalisation of Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM), the largest listed gold mining company. The AUM of SPDR Gold Shares is about 30% greater than Newmont’s market capitalisation.
Managed funds that invest in metal and mining stocks are overwhelmingly gold stock funds in terms of both numbers (95 out of 109) and AUM (US$30 billion out of US$33 billion or $45 billion out of $50 billion).
Of these funds’ investments a majority of assets – 55% – are invested in one market – Canada. Australia accounts for another 16% of managed gold fund investments. The corresponding figures for the United States, South Africa and the UK are 9%, 5%, and 3%.
Chris Berlet notes, “it is important to recognise that disclosure of portfolio holdings for managed funds are subject to the mutual fund laws in the financial centres in which they are domiciled and distributed. That typically means that managed funds must disclose what they are doing with their portfolios on a quarterly or monthly basis. Those disclosures can provide actionable intelligence for investors following the sector.”
Over the last 20 years the tremendous growth in metal and mining ETF assets has had a dramatic impact on the global demand and supply dynamics of metals. Money invested in ETFs is applied to gold and other metals that are held in vaults and warehouses.
“Further, metal ETFs have attracted money that would perhaps otherwise have flowed into managed funds or directly into listed stocks. This is something that is not well understood. There has been relatively little coverage of the ETFs by analysts who are working at stockbrokers and investment banks: this may be because they do not offer the same potential for advisory fees as listed mining and mineral companies”, observes Chris Berlet.
Correction and opportunity
One implication of this is that investment in exploration, and therefore the sourcing of new metal supplies, has been chronically underfunded at the expense of ETF investment. ETFs have, as noted, boosted demand for metals while – at the same time – curtailing supply, or curtailing investment in metal exploration which is the sourcing of new supplies.
Another implication is that, collectively, listed stocks are – almost certainly – worth less than they would be if ETFs had not been invented, or had been less successful. Given the relative importance of ETFs investing in gold bullion, it is a fair bet that this is especially true of gold miners and explorers.
The weight of money will not favour ETFs forever. Suppose that, at some stage in 2026, there is a correction in the price of gold – even for a short period. The impact on ETFs that invest directly into bullion would be immediate. Listed companies that are exploring or producing will likely be less affected. Explorers, by their nature, have an element of ‘blue sky’ potential. Producers are valued by investors on the basis of the long-term profits that they may generate.
In that event, investors and analysts may well take another look at listed companies (and managed funds) as a way of investing in a dynamic metals and mining sector. That could be a major opportunity for the coming year.
Write to Andrew Hutchings at Mining.com.au
Images: Resourcing Tomorrow & Unsplash
