MW Should you invest in gold miners or gold itself? Check out these ETFs.

By Isabel Wang

On March 27, ETF Wrap will publish its final edition. While you'll no longer receive the ETF Wrap newsletter, you will still find coverage of ETFs on MarketWatch. And to explore our variety of other newsletters covering how the news of the day affects you and your money, visit the MarketWatch Newsletter Center.

Welcome back to ETF Wrap! This is MarketWatch reporter Isabel Wang, bringing you this week's newsletter.

Gold has continued to soar in 2025 - and this time, its luster is finally bringing long-awaited shine to gold miners.

U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds tracking companies engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of gold have surged so far this year, as the price of the yellow metal (GC00) (GCJ25) on Friday broke through the key $3,000 barrier for the first time and has since hovered above that mark, according to FactSet data.

The $15 billion VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX has soared over 32% in 2025, while the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF GDXJ is up over 30% and the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF RING has risen over 33% in the same period. Their returns have significantly outpaced some of the more traditional gold-related funds that offer exposure to physical bullion or futures contracts, according to FactSet data.

The $88 billion SPDR Gold Shares GLD and the $41 billion iShares Gold Trust IAU have each popped around 15.5% so far this year, while the large-cap S&P 500 index SPX is off more than 3% in the same period, according to FactSet.

"I believe the price of gold will continue to rise, though that's a broader discussion tied to macroeconomic factors," said Chris Mancini, metals and mining analyst at Gabelli Asset Management. "Right now, conditions remain unsettled due to tariffs, the trade war and a slowing economy. We may see further monetary easing from the Fed, which would likely benefit gold."

See: Gold has already topped $3,000. Here's what it needs to go up another 16%.

For years, shares of gold miners have been correlated with the price of the underlying precious metal, yet their returns still failed to keep up with soaring gold prices over the past decade. Market analysts say that underperformance may have started to change in 2025 and could create what many see as an investment opportunity in gold-mining stocks.

Steve Schoffstall, director of ETF product management at Sprott Asset Management, said gold-mining stocks could provide investors not only with exposure to gold, but also dividend income and "some degree of leverage" to so-called safe-haven assets.

As a result, miners don't necessarily need gold prices to rise to perform well, Mancini told MarketWatch in emailed commentary on Tuesday. "Over the past five years, miners have underperformed relative to gold but are now generating significant free cash flow. Even if gold prices remain steady, miners have a strong opportunity for a solid run," he said.

But investing in gold miners doesn't come without risks.

"One thing investors should be aware of [before investing in gold-miner ETFs] is whether they are comfortable with taking on equity risk and what that entails," Schoffstall told MarketWatch in a phone interview on Wednesday. "[Gold miners] do have the potential for outperformance, but they also have the risk that if there's a broader market selloff, gold miners could be caught up in that as well."

Meanwhile, most gold-mining companies are not pure-play miners for the yellow metal. For example, Newmont Corp. $(NEM)$ - the largest holding of GDX - not only operates gold mines but produces other metals such as copper (HG00), silver (SI00), zinc and lead.

It's also worth noting that the returns among mining companies show significant dispersion, with the gap between the top and bottom performers averaging around 170% over the past five years, Schoffstall observed (see chart below).

That's why Schoffstall and his team think an active approach could give investors a chance to focus on those gold miners that have the potential to outperform, or those that may be undervalued. Earnings-per-share expectations for gold miners have risen by around 67% and 99% for 2025 and 2026, respectively, but they are only about 40% as expensive as the S&P 500 index, Schoffstall noted.

Sprott last month launched the Sprott Active Gold and Silver Miners ETF GBUG - an actively managed fund that invests in gold- or silver-focused companies that earn at least 50% of their revenue or have at least 50% of their assets engaged in exploring, developing or mining gold or silver.

GBUG has an expense ratio of 89 basis points, compared with just 51 basis points for GDX and 40 basis points for GLD, according to FactSet data.

As usual, here's your look at the top- and bottom-performing ETFs over the past week through Wednesday, according to FactSet data.

The good...

   Top performers                                                                                                                                                                  %Performance 
   iShares MSCI Brazil ETF                                                                                                                                                         10.0 
   Global X Copper Miners ETF                                                                                                                                                      9.0 
   Fidelity Ethereum Fund ETF                                                                                                                                                      8.3 
   Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF                                                                                                                                               8.3 
   iShares Ethereum Trust ETF                                                                                                                                                      8.3 
   Source: FactSet data. Start date: March 13. End date: March 19. Excludes ETNs and leveraged products. Includes NYSE-, Nasdaq- and Cboe-traded ETFs of $500 million or greater. 

... and the bad

   Bottom performers                                %Performance 
   YieldMax TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF         -2.7 
   Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF                  -1.7 
   Invesco California AMT-Free Municipal Bond ETF   -1.5 
   iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF                          -1.0 
   Eldridge BBB-B CLO ETF                           -0.9 
   Source: FactSet data 

New ETFs

-- Invesco IVZ on Wednesday launched the Invesco Managed Futures Strategy ETF IMF, an actively managed fund that take both long and short positions in derivative contracts linked to over 50 global markets, including stock indexes, bond indexes and currencies. The derivative contracts in which IMF may invest include futures contracts, foreign-currency forward contracts and swaps, the company said on its website.

-- BlackRock BLK on Monday launched the iShares Long-Term National Muni Bond ETF LMUB, which tracks an index composed of investment-grade U.S. municipal bonds with remaining maturities of 12 years or more.

Weekly ETF Reads

-- New ETF Picks Value Stocks With Big Insider Buys. Why It's a Winning Play. (Barron's)

-- Nearing $1 Trillion: Active ETF Engine Roars On (VettaFi)

-- Cat out of the bag: First catastrophe bond ETF to be launched next month (Pensions & Investments)

-- Does Your Index Fund Actually Represent the Market? (MorningStar)

-Isabel Wang

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March 20, 2025 17:19 ET (21:19 GMT)

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