Gold easily ranks among 2025’s best-performing asset classes. Entering Tuesday, the largest bullion-backed ETF was sporting a 10.2% YTD gain.
Gold miners are participating in the rally, too. The largest ETF focusing on the often under-owned segment was up 17.1% YTD as of March 3. Both data points are enticing. They could prompt investors to ponder the benefits of combined straight gold and miners exposure. Thanks to the WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Gold Miners Strategy Fund (GDMN ), that endeavor doesn’t require owning two ETFs.
Actively managed, GDMN offers investors best-of-both-worlds exposure. It holds gold futures and shares of gold mining equities. That combination is proving potent. The average return notched by the aforementioned gold-backed and miners ETFs is about 13.5% since the start of 2025. GDMN is up 27.32% since the start of the year.
GDMN Has Tailwinds
As noted above, the metal’s mining stocks are often under-owned by advisors and other professional investors. That’s partly due to the asset class’ history of underperforming gold when the yellow metal’s price retreats. Another reason is gold mining is a capital-intensive endeavor. But in recent years, miners, including GDMN holdings, have done an admirable job of reining in costs.
“Concerns over capital discipline and cost inflation weighed on miners over time, though cost pressures have eased. The all-in sustaining costs (AISC)—the breakeven cost to mine gold—rose by 13% in 2022 and 5.3% in 2023 but are expected to have declined in 2024,” according to WisdomTree research.
The precious metal itself is in the midst of a multiyear run to the upside. But investor sentiment regarding miners hasn’t improved much. That’s arguably harsh treatment. And particularly so when considering miners’ margins are improving in significant fashion. So are these companies’ efforts to return capital to investors.
“Operating margins improved from -11% in 2014 to +9% in 2024, comparable to levels in the general equity market. Yet sentiment toward the mining sector continues to remain weak,” added WisdomTree. “Gold miner dividend yields at 1.67% currently surpass the S&P 500 Index at 1.3%. While U.S. equities are touted as expensive, the gold miners’ EV/EBITDA valuation has fallen from 7.67x to 6.6x over the past decade.”
Combine the above factors with GDMN’s unique and clearly rewarding approach to gold investing, and a case can be made that the ETF merits consideration. That’s because the yellow metal’s bull market shows signs of extending.
Better Capital Efficiency
“GDMN adopts a unique approach using leverage and a ‘return stacking’ framework that layers gold futures on top of the miner’s exposure, thereby offering better capital efficiency. As a result, investors can free up capital for other allocations while maintaining a robust position in the precious metals sector,” concluded WisdomTree.
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