GraniteShares Gold Trust 10-Q

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations This information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes to financial statements included in Item 1 of Part I of this Form 10-Q. The discussion and analysis that follows may contain statements that relate to future events or future performance. In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Except as required by applicable disclosure laws, neither the Sponsor, nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any forward-looking statements. Neither the Trust nor the Sponsor is under a duty to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform such statements to actual results or to a change in the Sponsor’s expectations or predictions. Introduction The Trust is a common law trust, formed under the laws of the state of New York on August 24, 2017. The Trust is not managed like a corporation or an active investment vehicle. It does not have any officers, directors, or employees and is administered by the Trustee pursuant to the Trust Agreement. The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not required to register under such act. It does not hold or trade in commodity futures contracts, nor is it a commodity pool, or subject to regulation as a commodity pool operator or a commodity trading adviser in connection with issuing Shares. The Trust holds gold and is expected to issue Baskets in exchange for deposits of gold, and to distribute gold in connection with redemptions of Baskets. Shares issued by the Trust represent units of undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold, less the Trust’s expenses. The Sponsor believes that, for many investors, the Shares will represent a cost effective investment relative to traditional means of investing in gold. The Trust issues and redeems Shares only with Authorized Participants in exchange for gold and only in aggregations of 50,000 Shares or integral multiples thereof. A list of current Authorized Participants is available from the Sponsor or the Trustee. Shares of the Trust trade on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) Arca under the symbol “BAR”. Valuation of Gold; Computation of Net Asset Value On each business day, as soon as practicable after 4:00 p.m. (New York time), the Trustee evaluates the gold held by the Trust and determines the net asset value of the Trust and the NAV. The Trustee values the gold held by the Trust using that day’s LBMA Gold Price PM. If there is no announced LBMA Gold Price PM on a business day, the Trustee is authorized to use that day’s LBMA Gold Price AM. Having valued the gold held by the Trust, the Trustee then subtracts all accrued fees, expenses and other liabilities of the Trust from the value of the gold and other assets of the Trust. The result is the net asset value of the Trust. The Trustee computes the NAV by dividing the net asset value of the Trust by the number of Shares outstanding on the date the computation is made. Liquidity and Capital Resources The Trust is not aware of any trends, demands, commitments, events or uncertainties that are reasonably likely to result in material changes to its liquidity needs. In exchange for the Sponsor’s Fee, the Sponsor has agreed to assume most of the expenses incurred by the Trust. As a result, the only ordinary expense of the Trust during the period covered by this report was the Sponsor’s Fee. The Trustee will, at the direction of the Sponsor or in its own discretion, sell the Trust’s gold as necessary to pay the Trust’s expenses not otherwise assumed by the Sponsor. The Trustee will not sell gold to pay the Sponsor’s Fee but will pay the Sponsor’s Fee through in-kind transfers of gold to the Sponsor. At March 31, 2020 the Trust did not have any cash balances. 12 Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements The Trust has no off-balance sheet arrangements. Critical Accounting Policies The financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements relies on estimates and assumptions that impact the Trust’s financial position and results of operations. These estimates and assumptions affect the Trust’s application of accounting policies. Below, the Trust describes the valuation of gold bullion, a critical accounting policy that the Trust believes is important to understanding its results of operations and financial position. In addition, please refer to Note 2 to the financial statements included in this report for further discussion of the Trust’s accounting policies. Results of Operations The Quarter Ended December 31, 2020 The Trust’s net asset value decreased from $1,291,876,211 on September 30, 2020 to $1,111,848,655 on December 31, 2020, a 13.9% decrease. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value over this period was due to a reduction in the number of shares outstanding from 68,850,000 to 59,150,000, a 14.1% decrease. The 9,700,000 shares decrease was the net result of 48 creation orders and 242 redemption orders (50,000 shares per creation and redemption order). The impact of the redemption activity on the Trust’s net asset value was slightly reduced by the positive change in the price of gold, which increased 0.2% from $1,886.90 on September 30, 2020 to $1,891.10 on December 31, 2020. The 0.2% increase in the Trust’s net asset value per share, from $18.76 on September 30, 2020 to $18.80 on December 31, 2020 is directly related to the 0.22% increase in the price of gold. The Trust’s net asset value per share increased slightly less than the price of gold on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fees, which were $529,994 for the quarter, or 0.044% of the Trust’s average weighted net assets of $1,193,238,449 during the quarter. The net asset value per share of $19.30 on November 06, 2020 was the highest during the quarter, compared with a low during the quarter of $17.52 on November 30, 2020. Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 was $659,009, resulting from an unrealized loss on investment in gold bullion of $43,020,231, compensated by a gain of $42,888,216 on metal sold to cover the redemption orders and the Sponsor’s fees but reduced by the Sponsor’s fees of $526,994. Other than the Sponsor’s fees the Trust had no expenses during the quarter. Six Months Ended December 31, 2020 The Trust’s net asset value grew from $1,041,316,068 on June 30, 2020 to $1,111,848,655 on December 31, 2020, a 6.8% increase. The increase in the Trust’s net asset value occurred despite a small reduction in the number of shares outstanding from 59,200,000 to 59,150,000 over this period, or 0.1%. The 50,000 shares decrease was the net result of 249 creations orders and 250 redemption orders (50,000 shares per creation and redemption order). The increase in the Trust’s net asset value was due to a change in the price of gold, which increased 6.96% from $1,768.10 on June 30, 2020 to $1,891.10 on December 31, 2020. The 6.82% increase in the Trust’s net asset value per share, from $17.59 at June 30, 2020 to $18.80 at December 31, 2020 is directly related to the 6.96% increase in the price of gold. The Trust’s net asset value per share increased slightly less than the price of gold on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fees, which were $1,075,194 for the period, or 0.088% of the Trust’s average weighted net assets of $1,219,349,772 during the six-month period. The net asset value per share of $20.56 on August 6, 2020 was the highest during the period, compared with a low during the period of $17.52 on November 30, 2020. Net increase in net assets resulting from operations for the 6 months period ending December 31, 2020 was $64,276,914, resulting from an unrealized gain on investment in gold bullion of $20,556,472, increased by a gain of $44,795,636 on metal sold to cover the redemption orders and the Sponsor’s fees but reduced by the Sponsor’s fees of $1,075,194 Other than the Sponsor’s fees the Trust had no expenses during the quarter. 13 Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk Not applicable.