For some financial advisors, gold can seem like a client-driven afterthought—an asset that investors request more for emotional security than rational portfolio construction. But that view ignores how effectively gold can function as both a strategic diversifier and a source of potential upside, especially when accessed through a fund such as the State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) SPDR® Gold Trust (ticker: GLD®). Celebrating more than two decades since its inception, GLD provides a streamlined, cost-efficient way to track gold bullion—without the friction, overhead, or uncertainty that often accompanies direct ownership.
In an interview with The Wealth Advisor’s Scott Martin, George Milling-Stanley, Vice President and Chief Gold Strategist at State Street Global Advisors, discussed the origins of GLD, its enduring advantages, and how advisors can think strategically about incorporating it into modern portfolios today.
Establishing Trust Through First-Mover Insight
GLD launched in 2004 as the first U.S.-traded gold exchange-traded fund (ETF)—and the first U.S.-listed ETF backed by a physical asset. That lead, small as it seemed, proved decisive. “By the time that competitors came to market,” Milling-Stanley recalls, “we’d already engaged with the institutional market. We’d engaged with the hedge fund market, and we’d engaged with the individual investors, the retail market.” GLD had several billion in assets under management before the next ETF even opened for trading.
That advantage wasn’t just about speed; it was about clarity. “We did an enormous amount of market research at the World Gold Council in the couple of years leading up to the launch of GLD,” he says. The focus was on understanding investor hesitation. Across thousands of interviews, a common concern emerged: the cost, risk, and inconvenience of physically owning gold. Investors saw storage, insurance, and delivery as significant barriers to entry.
GLD addresses those concerns directly by offering exposure to the price of gold without requiring physical possession. The trust’s shares represent fractional, undivided interests in physical bullion, securely held, and transparently reported. “GLD has been very cost effective for an awful lot of investors,” Milling-Stanley notes. That clarity and convenience continue to drive interest. GLD now holds more than $90 billion in assets, while its smaller counterpart, the SPDR® Gold MiniShares® Trust (GLDM®), has attracted $5.5 billion in inflows this year alone.*
The takeaway is simple: a strong start matters, but consistency and transparency sustain leadership. GLD’s origin story continues to serve as a benchmark—not only for exposure to gold but for how to structure an asset-backed ETF that meets real investor needs.
Diversification Without Correlation
Diversification remains the cornerstone of modern portfolio theory, and gold supports that principle by behaving differently from other assets under stress.
“Gold doesn’t have a strong relationship with anything else you’d find in one of today’s modern portfolios,” Milling-Stanley notes. “[It] doesn’t have a strong relationship with equities or bonds or real estate or any of those things.”
That independence becomes particularly valuable during periods of market dislocation. When equities falter, gold has historically provided counterbalance. Milling-Stanley points to a series of inflection points: Black Monday in 1987, the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2001, the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2009, and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. “On all of those occasions, the equity market took a beating, and gold went up quite dramatically.”
Gold’s diversification benefit is not theoretical—it is observed, repeatable, and often decisive during downturns. Gold may not anticipate inflation or equity drawdowns, but it has a long track record of responding effectively when they arrive. That makes it more than a hedge—it’s an asset that has the potential to stabilize portfolios when other components fail to do so.
Gold as a Strategic Allocation, Not Just a Reactionary Move
Some investors view gold as a defensive tool to deploy only during crises, but SSGA prefers a broader, more proactive approach.
“More and more people are talking about the protective attributes that gold has,” Milling-Stanley notes. “It has a wonderful track record that has offered you some protection against sustained high inflation . . . against potential weakness in the equity market . . . [and] against weakness in the dollar.”
That protective quality, Milling-Stanley argues, is best utilized not in reaction to a shock but as a standing element of the portfolio. “Gold has performed well during times of inflation. For example, in June 2022, inflation hit 9%† and gold performed well. It’s always a good idea to have some gold in your portfolio.”
And while protection is central to gold’s appeal, performance remains part of the picture. In 2023, gold prices rose 27%, underscoring gold’s capacity to appreciate significantly even as it serves as a stabilizing force within a portfolio. For investors concerned with both risk management and growth potential, that combination may make gold a compelling component of a diversified strategy.
Portfolio Positioning: One Size Does Not Fit All
A rigid, one-size-fits-all allocation model doesn’t reflect real-world client needs, and gold is no exception. Rather than offering a flat deployment, Milling-Stanley points to the importance of personalization with the GLD strategy. “I’ve yet to meet the average investor,” he says. Each investor’s situation is shaped by unique liquidity requirements, time horizons, and risk profiles.
Advisors, already obligated to understand their clients deeply, can use that knowledge to position gold intentionally. Academic research suggests long-term allocations between 2% and 10% can improve portfolio efficiency, but Milling-Stanley notes that during periods of heightened market risk, a larger allocation—up to 20%—may be appropriate.
“So, where anybody fits on that spectrum, to 20%, that’s not very helpful,” he acknowledges. “But it’s up to the individual advisor and the individual investor to figure out for themselves where exactly they want to be.”
The value of gold lies not just in the metal itself, but in how thoughtfully it is positioned. Advisors who can calibrate allocations to meet client needs and market signals can use gold as both a shield and a lever—protective in bad times, potentially accretive in good ones.
A Global Asset with Broad-Based Demand
The strength of GLD’s market goes beyond its ETF wrapper. Demand spans sectors, regions, and investor types—giving gold durability that few assets can match. Milling-Stanley identifies four key drivers: jewelry, investment, central banks, and industrial use.
“Jewelry regularly accounts for close to half of total demand, most of that going into the emerging markets,” he says. Investment demand fluctuates with market conditions and has approached 40% in some years. Central banks—especially in developing economies—have been consistent net buyers for more than 15 years, viewing gold as a reserve asset alongside currencies.
Notably, gold’s industrial demand remains low. “Even with people anticipating the coming boom in AI, it’s still less than 10% of total end-user demand,” he says. That consumption stands in contrast to the comparable use of other precious metals such as silver and platinum, which rely heavily on industrial applications and are more sensitive to sector-specific disruptions.
Even so, multichannel demand—combined with gold’s status as a store of value for both governments and individuals—reinforces its standing as a foundational asset, not just a speculative position.
Why GLD—and Why Now
After two decades of performance and market leadership, GLD remains the gold standard for accessing bullion through public markets. As Milling-Stanley notes, its structure is built for transparency, cost efficiency, and liquidity. The trust’s shares track the price of gold bullion, less expenses, and are backed entirely by physical holdings—providing investors with a secure and direct way to access gold exposure through public markets.
Shares trade on the NYSE Arca like any stock, and their value reflects real-time market pricing. Investors can use market, limit, and stop-loss orders—adding flexibility and tactical control, he adds. Baskets of shares can be created or redeemed to meet demand, supporting liquidity and minimizing price dislocation.
“One of the smartest things I ever did when I worked at the World Gold Council and worked on this project was to appoint State Street Global Advisors as the marketing agent,” Milling-Stanley reflects. “That has been a marriage made in heaven for 20 years plus now.”
As advisors help clients navigate an era of macro uncertainty—from inflationary pressures to geopolitical risk and evolving monetary policy—the need for resilient, transparent, and trusted investment vehicles becomes increasingly pronounced. GLD delivers gold exposure in a package designed for advisors and institutions alike.
For those seeking tools that are designed to deliver both protection and potential, the choice is already on the ticker tape: GLD. Enough said.
*Source: State Street Global Advisors, as of March 27, 2025.
†Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Additional Resources
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Important Risk Information
Investing involves risk including the risk of loss of principal.
Investing involves risk, and you could lose money on an investment in each of SPDR® Gold Shares Trust (“GLD®” or “GLD”) and SPDR® Gold MiniShares® Trust (“GLDM®” or “GLDM”), a series of the World Gold Trust (together, the “Funds”).
All information is from SSGA unless otherwise noted and has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. There is no representation or warranty as to the current accuracy, reliability or completeness of, nor liability for, decisions based on such information and it should not be relied on as such.
The information provided does not constitute investment advice and it should not be relied on as such. It should not be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security. It does not take into account any investor’s particular investment objectives, strategies, tax status or investment horizon. You should consult your tax and financial advisor.
ETFs trade like stocks, are subject to investment risk, fluctuate in market value and may trade at prices above or below the ETFs’ net asset value. Brokerage commissions and ETF expenses will reduce returns.
Commodities and commodity-index linked securities may be affected by changes in overall market movements, changes in interest rates and other factors such as weather, disease, embargoes, or political and regulatory developments, as well as trading activity of speculators and arbitrageurs in the underlying commodities.
Frequent trading of ETFs could significantly increase commissions and other costs such that they may offset any savings from low fees or costs.
Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss.
Investing in commodities entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors.
Important Information Relating to GLD® and GLDM®:
GLD and the World Gold Trust have each filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for GLD and GLDM, respectively. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in the registration statement and other documents each Fund has filed with the SEC for more complete information about each Fund and these offerings. Please see each Fund’s prospectus for a detailed discussion of the risks of investing in each Fund’s shares. The GLD prospectus is available by clicking here, and the GLDM prospectus is available by clicking here. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at sec.gov or by visiting spdrgoldshares.com. Alternatively, the Funds or any authorized participant will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling 866.320.4053.
Neither GLD nor GLDM is an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”). As a result, shareholders of each Fund do not have the protections associated with ownership of shares in an investment company registered under the 1940 Act. GLD and GLDM are not subject to regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936 (the “CEA”). As a result, shareholders of each of GLD and GLDM do not have the protections afforded by the CEA.
Shares of each Fund trade like stocks, are subject to investment risk and will fluctuate in market value.
The values of GLD shares and GLDM shares relate directly to the value of the gold held by each Fund (less its expenses), respectively. Fluctuations in the price of gold could materially and adversely affect an investment in the shares. The price received upon the sale of the shares, which trade at market price, may be more or less than the value of the gold represented by them.
Neither GLD nor GLDM generate any income, and as each Fund regularly sells gold to pay for its ongoing expenses, the amount of gold represented by each Fund share will decline over time to that extent. The World Gold Council name and logo are a registered trademark and used with the permission of the World Gold Council pursuant to a license agreement. The World Gold Council is not responsible for the content of, and is not liable for the use of or reliance on, this material. World Gold Council is an affiliate of the Sponsor of each of GLD and GLDM.
MiniShares® is a registered trademark of WGC USA Asset Management Company, LLC used with the permission of WGC USA Asset Management Company, LLC. GLD® and GLDM® are registered trademarks of World Gold Trust Services, LLC used with the permission of World Gold Trust Services, LLC.
State Street Global Advisors and its affiliates have not taken into consideration the circumstances of any particular investor in producing this material and are not making an investment recommendation or acting in fiduciary capacity in connection with the provision of the information contained herein.
The whole or any part of this work may not be reproduced, copied or retransmitted or any of its content disclosed to third parties without SSGA’s express written consent.
Intellectual Property Information: The S&P 500® Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“S&P DJI”) and have been licensed for use by State Street Global Advisors. S&P®, SPDR®, S&P 500®, US 500 and the 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and has been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices; and these trademarks have been licensed for use by S&P DJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by State Street Global Advisors. The fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P DJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of these indices.
For more information, please contact the Marketing Agent for GLD and GLDM: State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC, One Iron Street, Boston, MA, 02210; T: +1 866 320 4053 spdrgoldshares.com
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