Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant ’ s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
On June 15, 2021, the Shares commenced trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol IAUM.
Holders
As of December 31, 2025, there were approximately 107 DTC participating shareholders of record of the Trust. Because most of the Trust’s Shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of shareholders represented by these record holders.
Dividends
The Trust did not declare any cash distributions to Shareholders during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024. The Trust has no obligation to make periodic distributions to Shareholders.
Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
Not applicable.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuers and Affiliated Purchaser
9,350,000 Shares (187 Baskets) were redeemed during the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2025.
Period
Total Number of Shares
Redeemed
Average Ounces of
Gold Paid Per Share
10/01/25 to 10/31/25
1,600,000
$
0.0100
11/01/25 to 11/30/25
1,800,000
0.0100
12/01/25 to 12/31/25
5,950,000
0.0100
Total
9,350,000
$
0.0100
Item 6. [Reserved]
Item 7. 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 with this report. 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. These statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially. These statements are based upon certain assumptions and analyses made by the Sponsor on the basis of its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Whether or not actual results and developments will conform to the Sponsor ’ s expectations and predictions, however, is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the special considerations discussed below, general economic, market and business conditions, changes in laws or regulations, including those concerning taxes, made by governmental authorities or regulatory bodies, and other world economic and political developments. Although the Sponsor does not make forward-looking statements unless it believes it has a reasonable basis for doing so, the Sponsor cannot guarantee their accuracy. Except as required by applicable disclosure laws, 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.
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Introduction
The Trust is a grantor trust formed under the laws of the State of New York. The Trust does not have any officers, directors, or employees, and is administered by the Trustee pursuant to the Trust Agreement between the Trustee and the Sponsor. The Trust issues Shares representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets. The assets of the Trust consist primarily of gold bullion held by a custodian as an agent of the Trust responsible only to the Trustee.
The Trust is a passive investment vehicle and seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of gold. The Trust seeks to reflect such performance before payment of the Trust’s expenses and liabilities. The Trust does not engage in any activities designed to obtain a profit from, or ameliorate losses caused by, changes in the price of gold.
The Trust issues and redeems Shares only in exchange for gold, only in Baskets or integral multiples thereof, and only in transactions with Authorized Participants. A list of the current Authorized Participants is available from the Sponsor or the Trustee.
Shares of the Trust trade on NYSE Arca, Inc. under the ticker symbol IAUM.
Valuation of Gold Bullion ; 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 the LBMA Gold Price PM. If there is no announced LBMA Gold Price PM on any day, the Trustee is authorized to use the most recently announced LBMA Gold Price AM, unless the Trustee, in consultation with the Sponsor, determines that such price is inappropriate as a basis for evaluation. The LBMA Gold Price AM and LBMA Gold Price PM are used by the Trust because they are commonly used by the U.S. gold market as indicators of the value of gold and are permitted to be used under the Trust Agreement. The use of indicators of the value of gold bullion other than the LBMA Gold Price AM and LBMA Gold Price PM could result in materially different fair value pricing of the gold held by the Trust, and as such, could result in different cost or market adjustments or in different redemption value adjustments of the outstanding redeemable capital Shares. Having valued the gold held by the Trust, the Trustee then subtracts all accrued fees, expenses and other liabilities of the Trust from the total value of the gold and other assets held by the Trust. The result is the net asset value of the Trust. The Trustee computes NAV by dividing the net asset value of the Trust by the number of Shares outstanding on the date the computation is made.
Liquidity
The Trust is not aware of any trends, demands, conditions or events that are reasonably likely to result in material changes to its liquidity needs. In exchange for a 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 fees. The Trust’s only source of liquidity is its sales of gold.
Critical Accounting Policies
The financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles 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. A description of the valuation of gold bullion, a critical accounting policy that the Trust believes is important to understanding its results of operations and financial position, is provided in the section entitled “Valuation of Gold Bullion; Computation of Net Asset Value” above. In addition, please refer to Note 2 to the financial statements included in this report for further discussion of the Trust’s accounting policies.
Valuation of Gold Bullion
Fair value of the gold bullion is based on the LBMA Gold Price PM. If there is no announced LBMA Gold Price PM on a business day, the Trustee is authorized to use the most recently announced LBMA Gold Price AM.
There are other indicators of the value of gold bullion that are available that could be different than that chosen by the Trust. The LBMA Gold Price AM and LBMA Gold Price PM are used by the Trust because they are commonly used by the U.S. gold market as indicators of the value of gold, and are permitted to be used under the Trust Agreement. The use of indicators of the value of gold bullion other than the LBMA Gold Price AM and LBMA Gold Price PM could result in materially different fair value pricing of the gold held by the Trust.
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The following chart shows the daily LBMA Gold Price, as applicable, for the period from June 15, 2021 (Date of Inception) through December 2025:
Gold Prices (June 15, 2021 (Date of Inception) - December 2025)
Results of Operations
The Year Ended December 31, 2025
The Trust’s net asset value increased from $1,359,466,882 at December 31, 2024 to $6,029,172,796 at December 31, 2025, a 343.50% increase. The increase in the Trust’s net asset value resulted primarily from an increase in the number of outstanding Shares, which rose from 52,200,000 Shares at December 31, 2024 to 140,400,000 Shares at December 31, 2025, a consequence of 105,000,000 Shares (2,100 Baskets) being created and 16,800,000 Shares (336 Baskets) being redeemed during the year. The increase in the Trust’s net asset value also benefitted from an increase in the price of gold, which rose 65.00% from $2,610.85 at December 31, 2024 to $4,307.95 at December 31, 2025.
The 64.90% increase in the NAV from $26.04 at December 31, 2024 to $42.94 at December 31, 2025 is directly related to the 65.00% increase in the price of gold.
The NAV increased slightly less than the price of gold on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fees, which were $2,350,779 for the year, or 0.07% of the Trust’s average weighted assets of $3,358,344,407 during the year. The NAV of $44.67 on December 24, 2025 was the highest during the year, compared with a low during the year of $26.27 on January 6, 2025.
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $1,598,557,846, resulting from a net realized gain of $541,887 from gold bullion sold to pay expenses, a net realized gain of $174,763,427 on gold bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares and an unrealized gain on investment in gold bullion of $1,425,603,311, partially offset by a net investment loss of $2,350,779. Other than the Sponsor’s fees of $2,350,779, the Trust had no expenses during the year.
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The Year Ended December 31, 2024
The Trust’s net asset value increased from $1,221,830,170 at December 31, 2023 to $1,359,466,882 at December 31, 2024, an 11.26% increase. The increase in the Trust’s net asset value resulted primarily from an increase in the price of gold, which grew 26.59% from $2,062.40 at December 31, 2023 to $2,610.85 at December 31, 2024, partially offset by a decrease in the number of outstanding Shares, which fell from 59,350,000 Shares at December 31, 2023 to 52,200,000 Shares at December 31, 2024, a consequence of 14,150,000 Shares (283 Baskets) being created and 21,300,000 Shares (426 Baskets) being redeemed during the year.
The 26.47% increase in the NAV from $20.59 at December 31, 2023 to $26.04 at December 31, 2024 is directly related to the 26.59% increase in the price of gold.
The NAV increased slightly less than the price of gold on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fees, which were $861,506 for the year, or 0.07% of the Trust’s average weighted assets of $1,231,336,576 during the year. The NAV of $27.71 on October 30, 2024 was the highest during the year, compared with a low of $19.81 on February 14, 2024.
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $284,556,077, resulting from a net realized gain of $162,376 from gold bullion sold to pay expenses, a net realized gain of $80,394,076 on gold bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares and an unrealized gain on investment in gold bullion of $204,861,131, partially offset by a net investment loss of $861,506. Other than the Sponsor’s fees of $861,506, the Trust had no expenses during the year.
The Year Ended December 31, 2023
The Trust’s net asset value increased from $1,127,844,172 at December 31, 2022 to $1,221,830,170 at December 31, 2023, an 8.33% increase. The increase in the Trust’s net asset value resulted primarily from an increase in the price of gold, which grew 13.80% from $1,812.35 at December 31, 2022 to $2,062.40 at December 31, 2023, partially offset by a decrease in the number of outstanding Shares, which fell from 62,300,000 at December 31, 2022 to 59,350,000 at December 31, 2023, a consequence of 26,200,000 Shares (524 Baskets) being created and 29,150,000 Shares (583 Baskets) being redeemed during the year.
The 13.76% increase in the NAV from $18.10 at December 31, 2022 to $20.59 at December 31, 2023 is directly related to the 13.80% increase in the price of gold.
The NAV increased slightly less than the price of gold on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fees, which were $686,580 for the year, or 0.07% of the Trust’s average weighted assets of $981,290,842 during the year. The NAV of $20.75 on December 28, 2023 was the highest during the year, compared with a low of $18.09 on February 24, 2023.
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $137,591,766, resulting from a net realized gain of $40,838 from gold bullion sold to pay expenses, a net realized gain of $29,060,925 on gold bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares and an unrealized gain on investment in gold bullion of $109,176,583, partially offset by a net investment loss of $686,580. Other than the Sponsor’s fees of $686,580, the Trust had no expenses during the year.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
Not applicable.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.