Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF vs VanEck Gold Miners ETF. Is Bullion or Miners the Better Way to Invest in Gold in 2026?

Gold is in the middle of a historic rally. The Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (CBOE:AAAU) provides direct exposure to the metal's price at a lower cost, while VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT:GDX) offers leveraged potential through equity in the companies that extract it.

Gold has long been viewed as a store of value, yet the Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF and the VanEck Gold Miners ETF offer two distinct paths into this asset class. While one tracks the literal price of bullion, the other tracks an index of global mining corporations. This structural difference creates varying levels of volatility and historical returns that investors must weigh when building a portfolio.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield as of the July 9 closing price.

Efficiency is a major differentiator in this matchup. The Goldman Sachs fund is the more affordable choice for long-term holders, sporting an expense ratio of 0.18%. In contrast, the VanEck fund charges 0.51%, a higher fee that reflects the complexity of managing a diverse portfolio of international mining stocks rather than simply vaulting physical bars.

Performance & risk comparison

What's inside

The Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF is designed to track the spot price of gold bullion. Its portfolio consists entirely of physical metal. The fund was launched in 2018. It provides a direct link to the commodity’s market price movements without requiring investors to handle physical storage or insurance.

The VanEck Gold Miners ETF offers broad exposure to the gold-mining industry by tracking the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index. This diversified approach includes 69 holdings, with the basic materials sector making up 100% of the portfolio. Its largest positions include Newmont (NYSE:NEM) at 10.5%, Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) at 10.5%, and Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) at 8%. The fund was launched in 2006. Its performance depends on both gold prices and corporate fundamentals like earnings and operational efficiency.

Which fund is the better buy?

Gold has more than doubled over the past two years as investors have flocked to the yellow metal for its historic inflation-hedging characteristics. These two funds have very different ways of playing the metal boom.

The Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF is exactly what it says it is. It holds physical gold for you without the hassle of storing bullion on your own. Holding physical gold through an ETF is simpler, but you have the same tax treatment as owning the physical bullion. In the U.S., gains from these funds will be treated as collectibles, which typically means a higher tax rate than for stocks for most investors. If you hold them in a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA, you should sidestep these taxes.

The fund reflects the price trends of gold. In addition to its 1-year performance of 24.1%, AAAU has returned 27.9% over the 3-year period and 17.8% over the 5-year period. It has annualized returns of 15.9% since its inception eight years ago.

Owning a collection of gold mining stocks, like the VanEck Gold Miners ETF offers, isn’t a pure play on the price of gold, but it tracks rather closely. Studies show that roughly 85% of the price movement of gold mining stocks has to do with gold’s price. The benefit for stock ETF holders is that when gold prices rise, they usually outpace operating costs. That’s because miners are pulling gold from the ground that they have already paid to acquire, while the royalties and other costs don’t rise as high. So in the early years of a gold rally, the higher prices flow mostly to the bottom line.

That explains why the VanEck fund has outperformed the Goldman Sachs ETF. In addition to its 1-year return of 48.2%, GDX has 37.5%, 19%, and 11.6% over the 3-, 5-, and 10-year time frames, respectively. Coupled with the income benefit of dividends, that makes the VanEck Gold Miners ETF the best way to play gold in 2026.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

Brendan Coffey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.