ETFS unveils Physical Swiss Gold Shares in US

ETF Securities has released the Physical Swiss Gold Shares, an open-ended trust backed by physical gold, on NYSE Arca.

The ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares, designed to reflect the performance of the price of gold, are backed by physical gold bullion held by JP Morgan, stored in vaults in Zurich.

The shares can only be issued when the bullion is delivered into the trust account at the vault, which is independently inspected twice a year. An appointed trustee must also approve all deposits and withdrawals of bullion held by the custodian.

As a result, the physical gold bullion of the trust is exposed to minimal counterparty or credit risk, as opposed to products which provide access to the price of bullion via derivatives.

ETFS head of sales and marketing William Rhind says: "Investors have been asking us for a long time to develop a product that stores its gold in Switzerland. As a result of that feedback, we are excited to be able to offer investors a new way to invest in the gold market and an efficient way to geographically diversify their gold holdings."

The launch of the gold product follows the recent listing of the ETFS Silver Trust in July, which accrued over $111m in assets under management as of September 3.