The Net Asset Value of the Trust is the aggregate value of gold and other assets, if any, of the Trust (other than amounts credited to the Trust’s reserve account, if any) including cash, if any, less liabilities of the Trust, which include estimated accrued but unpaid fees, expenses and other liabilities. The reserve account, if established, will be a separate non-interest bearing account with the Trustee or such other banking institution specified by the Sponsor, or if the Sponsor fails so to specify, as selected by the Trustee, in the name, and for the benefit, of the Trust, subject only to draft or order by the Trustee acting pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement. The Trustee will hold in such account all cash that it has credited to such account to reflect the reserves for taxes or other governmental charges and other contingent liabilities payable out of the Trust that the Trustee has determined from time to time to be required by GAAP. The Trustee determines the Net Asset Value per Share by dividing the Net Asset Value of the Trust by the number of the Shares outstanding as of the close of trading on the Cboe BZX Exchange (which includes the net number of any Shares deemed created or redeemed on such evaluation day).
All gold is valued based on its fine troy ounce (“Fine Ounce”) content, calculated by multiplying the weight of gold by its purity. The same methodology is applied independent of the type of gold held by the Trust; similarly, the value of up to 430 Fine Ounces of unallocated gold the Trust may hold is calculated by multiplying the number of Fine Ounces with the price of gold determined by the Trustee. The Trustee values the gold held by the Trust based on the LBMA Gold Price PM. The LBMA Gold Price PM is set at 3:00 p.m. London time via an auction independently operated and administered by ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”). The price is set in U.S. dollars per Fine Ounce. If no LBMA Gold Price PM is available for the required day, the Trustee uses the LBMA Gold Price AM. If no LBMA Gold Price PM or LBMA Gold Price AM is available for the day, the Trustee values the Trust’s gold based on the most recently announced LBMA Gold Price PM or LBMA Gold Price AM. If the Sponsor determines that such price is inappropriate to use, it must identify an alternate basis for evaluation to be employed by the Trustee. The Sponsor may instruct the Trustee to use a different price which is reasonably available to the Trustee at no cost to the Trustee that the Sponsor determines to represent fairly the commercial value of the Trust’s gold.
The Trustee’s estimation of accrued but unpaid fees, expenses and liabilities is conclusive upon all persons interested in the Trust, and no revision or correction in any computation made under the Trust Agreement is required by reason of any difference in amounts estimated from those actually paid.
The Sponsor and the investors may rely on any evaluation or determination of any amount made by the Trustee, and, except for any determination by the Sponsor as to the price to be used to evaluate gold, the Sponsor has no responsibility for the evaluation’s accuracy. The determinations the Trustee makes are made in good faith upon the basis of, and the Trustee will not be liable for any errors contained in, information reasonably available to it. The Trustee is not liable to the Sponsor, Authorized Participants, investors or any other person for errors in judgment. However, the preceding liability exclusion will not protect the Trustee against any liability resulting from bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties.
Results of Operations
Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2022 and 2021
For the three months ended September 30, 2022, 4,900,000 shares (196 Baskets) were created in exchange for 48,646.5 ounces of gold, 13,880,000 shares (555 Baskets) were redeemed in exchange for 137,799.9 ounces of gold, and 141.3 ounces of gold were sold to pay expenses. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, 26,650,000 shares (1,066 Baskets) were created in exchange for 264,757.9 ounces of gold, 25,980,000 shares (1,039 Baskets) were redeemed in exchange for 257,995.2 ounces of gold, and 425.9 ounces of gold were sold to pay expenses. The Trust’s NAV per share ended the period at $16.59 compared to $18.04 at June 30, 2022 and $18.09 at December 31, 2021. The change in the NAV per share was due to a change in the price of gold to $1,671.75 at period end, which represented a decrease of (7.99)% from $1,817.00 at June 30, 2022 and a decrease of (8.15)% from $1,820.10 at December 31, 2021.
At September 30, 2022, the Custodian held 239,448.7 ounces of gold on behalf of the Trust in its vault, with a market value of $400,298,339 (cost: $447,396,288) based on the LBMA PM Gold Price at period end.
At September 30, 2021, the Custodian held 228,243.1 ounces of gold on behalf of the Trust in its vault, with a market value of $397,782,021 (cost: $400,109,939) based on the LBMA PM Gold Price at period end.
The change in net assets from operations for the three months ended September 30, 2022 was $(41,568,663), which was due to (i) the Sponsor Fee of $(225,175) and (ii) a net realized and unrealized loss of $(41,343,488) from operations, which in turn resulted from a net realized loss on gold distributed for redemptions of $(4,334,332), a net realized loss on gold transferred to pay expenses of $(29,400) and a net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments in gold bullion of $(36,979,756). Other than the Sponsor Fee, the Trust had no expenses during the three months ended September 30, 2022.
The change in net assets from operations for the three months ended September 30, 2021 was $(5,089,113), which was due to (i) the Sponsor Fee of $(172,760) and (ii) a net realized and unrealized loss of $(4,916,353) from operations, which in turn resulted from a net realized loss on gold transferred to pay expenses of $(2,352) and a net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments in gold bullion of $(4,914,001). Other than the Sponsor Fee, the Trust had no expenses during the three months ended September 30, 2021.
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