# GLDM ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What GLDM holds, its 0.1% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by SPDR (State Street). Each share of this fund stands for a small amount of real gold kept in vaults. It charges 0.1% a year. From June 2018 to October 2026 it returned about 15.3% a year, and its worst drop was −26.3%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.1% a year (about $10 on $10,000).
- Started trading on June 25, 2018.
- Last close: $82.46 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: −3.3%.
- Worst drop since 2018: −26.3%.
- No Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has GLDM done since 2018?

From June 2018 to October 2026, GLDM returned about 15.3% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 14.9% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $32,753 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | GLDM | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | −2.5% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 4.8% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | −13.1% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | −3.4% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | −3.3% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 29.4% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | 18.6% | 12.8% |
| Since 2018, per year | 15.3% | 14.9% |

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

## GLDM returns by month and year

GLDM rose in 56 of its 101 months (55%). Its best month was January 2026, at 12.5%. Its worst was June 2026, at −11.7%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | 12.5% | 8.5% | −11.0% | −1.4% | −1.6% | −11.7% | 0.9% | 10.0% | −6.7% | 0.3% |  |  | −3.4% |
| 2025 | 6.7% | 1.9% | 9.5% | 5.5% | 0.0% | 0.4% | −0.6% | 5.0% | 11.8% | 3.6% | 5.4% | 2.3% | 64.2% |
| 2024 | −1.4% | 0.5% | 8.7% | 3.1% | 1.6% | −0.1% | 5.4% | 2.1% | 5.1% | 4.3% | −3.1% | −1.4% | 27.1% |
| 2023 | 5.8% | −5.3% | 7.9% | 1.0% | −1.4% | −2.2% | 2.3% | −1.3% | −4.7% | 7.4% | 2.6% | 1.3% | 13.0% |
| 2022 | −1.7% | 6.2% | 1.3% | −2.1% | −3.2% | −1.6% | −2.5% | −2.9% | −2.9% | −1.7% | 8.4% | 3.0% | −0.5% |
| 2021 | −3.2% | −6.3% | −1.1% | 3.5% | 7.6% | −7.0% | 2.4% | 0.1% | −3.3% | 1.6% | −0.7% | 3.2% | −4.0% |
| 2020 | 4.6% | −0.6% | −0.1% | 7.1% | 2.5% | 2.8% | 10.9% | −0.4% | −4.1% | −0.5% | −5.4% | 7.0% | 25.1% |
| 2019 | 2.9% | −0.5% | −1.6% | −0.7% | 1.7% | 8.1% | 0.1% | 7.8% | −3.3% | 2.6% | −3.2% | 3.6% | 18.1% |
| 2018 (part) |  |  |  |  |  | −0.5% | −2.2% | −2.0% | −0.8% | 2.1% | 0.5% | 4.9% | 1.8% |

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

## How risky is GLDM compared with the S&P 500?

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

- **Beta 0.17.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, GLDM tended to move about 0.17%.
- **Correlation 0.15.** GLDM moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, GLDM rose 68% as much on average. In months it fell, GLDM fell 6% as much.

| Measure | GLDM | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | 18.7% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 18.9% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −26.3% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.01 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.43 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.71 | 0.52 |

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

## Is GLDM above its 200-day average?

GLDM closed 7.8% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds GLDM only above that average would be out of it today.

- Its 50-day average is 4.2% below its 200-day average.
- It closed 22.8% below its highest close of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for GLDM](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was GLDM's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. GLDM's worst fall was −26.3%, from January 29, 2026 to July 16, 2026. By October 16, 2026 it had not yet climbed back to that high. On October 16, 2026 it was 22.8% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −26.3% | Jan 29, 2026 | Jul 16, 2026 | Not yet | 6 months | n/a |
| −21.6% | Aug 6, 2020 | Sep 26, 2022 | Dec 27, 2023 | 2.1 years | 15 months |
| −12.5% | Mar 9, 2020 | Mar 19, 2020 | Apr 9, 2020 | 10 days | 21 days |
| −10.1% | Oct 20, 2025 | Nov 4, 2025 | Dec 22, 2025 | 15 days | 2 months |
| −8.1% | Oct 30, 2024 | Nov 15, 2024 | Jan 30, 2025 | 16 days | 2 months |

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

## What does GLDM hold?

Each share of this fund stands for a small amount of real gold kept in vaults. Its price follows the price of gold, minus a low yearly fee. It does not pay interest or dividends.

It tracks the LBMA Gold Price PM.

| Fact | GLDM |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | SPDR Gold MiniShares |
| Issuer | SPDR (State Street) |
| Expense ratio | 0.1% a year |
| Started trading | June 25, 2018 |
| Tracks | LBMA Gold Price PM |
| Type | Gold, ETF |
| Facts checked | October 17, 2026 on the [SPDR (State Street) fund page](https://www.spdrgoldshares.com/usa/gldm/) |

## What is the GLDM expense ratio?

GLDM charges 0.1% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.1% fee comes to about $10 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 51% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold GLDM?

No classic strategy holds GLDM yet. You can add it to your own rules in the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and see how they would have done.

## How does GLDM compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for GLDM:

- [SGOL](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SGOL.md): abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF, 0.17% a year
- [BAR](https://tactfolio.com/etf/BAR.md): GraniteShares Gold Trust, 0.1749% a year
- [AAAU](https://tactfolio.com/etf/AAAU.md): Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF, 0.18% a year
- [GLD](https://tactfolio.com/etf/GLD.md): SPDR Gold Shares, 0.4% a year

See [all 8 GLDM alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/GLDM.md), compared on the same dates as GLDM.

## Test GLDM in your own rules

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add GLDM, and see how a rule such as "hold it only above its 200-day average" would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

## The details

Prices come from Tactfolio's stored daily prices for GLDM and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from SPDR (State Street). We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read [what a backtest simulates](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [Commodities](https://tactfolio.com/learn/commodities-explained): Commodities are raw goods like oil, gold and wheat.
- [Risk parity](https://tactfolio.com/learn/risk-parity): Risk parity balances risk instead of dollars. See a simple stock and bond example, why funds use leverage, and what went wrong in 2022.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of GLDM?

GLDM charges 0.1% a year, according to SPDR (State Street) as of October 17, 2026. That is about $10 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

### When did GLDM start trading?

GLDM started trading on June 25, 2018. It is run by SPDR (State Street).

### What does GLDM track?

GLDM tracks the LBMA Gold Price PM. Each share of this fund stands for a small amount of real gold kept in vaults.

### How much has GLDM returned per year?

From June 2018 to October 2026, GLDM returned about 15.3% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −26.3%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is GLDM above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, GLDM closed 7.8% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use GLDM?

None of Tactfolio's classic strategies hold GLDM yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

## Sources

- [SPDR (State Street): SPDR Gold MiniShares fund page](https://www.spdrgoldshares.com/usa/gldm/)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.