Interim Management Report of Fund Performance (in U.S. dollars)
Management Discussion of Fund Performance
Investment Objective and Strategies
Sprott Physical Gold and Silver Trust (the “Trust”) is a closed-end mutual fund trust established on October 26, 2017 under the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada. Sprott Asset Management LP (the “Manager”) is the manager of the Trust. The Trust was created to invest and hold substantially all of its assets in physical gold and silver bullion and seeks to provide a secure, convenient and exchange-traded investment alternative for investors interested in holding physical bullion without the inconvenience that is typical of a direct investment in physical bullion. The Trust intends to achieve its objective by investing primarily in long-term holdings of unencumbered, fully allocated, physical gold and silver bullion and does not speculate with regard to short-term changes in bullion prices.
The units of the Trust are listed on the New York Stock Exchange Arca (“NYSE Arca”) under the ticker symbol “CEF”, and the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under the ticker symbols “CEF” and “CEF.U”.
Risks
There have been no changes to the Trust over the financial period that materially affected the risk level of the Trust.
The changing economic and market climate as a result of COVID-19 has led to the Managers of the Trust implementing its business continuity plan. Our portfolio managers and enterprise shared services teams and key outsource service providers are fully operational. While the exact impacts of COVID-19 over the short and long-term are undeterminable at the date of this report, management believes the effects of COVID-19 we have witnessed thus far, and in particular, world government responses thereto via fiscal and monetary policy, will continue to be highly constructive to precious metals markets as we progress into 2021.
Results of Operations
During the period from January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021, the total change in unrealized losses on physical gold bullion amounted to $286.1 million and the total change in unrealized losses on physical silver bullion amounted to $122.2 million, compared to the total change in unrealized gains on physical gold bullion of $71.6 million and the total change in unrealized losses on physical silver bullion of $220.5 million during the same period in 2020. The realized gains on physical gold bullion amounted to approximately $2.6 million and realized gains on physical silver bullion of $2.6 million. Comparatively, for the same period in 2020, there was realized gains on physical gold and silver bullion of $4.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively.
For the period from January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021, the Trust issued 406,947 units for gross proceeds of $8.1 million and redeemed 999,008 units for gold and silver bullion and 8,000 units for cash. Comparatively, for the same period in 2020, the Trust issued 2,521,262 units for gross proceeds of $36.8 million and 2,599 units were redeemed for cash and 2,512,844 units were redeemed for gold and silver bullion.
The value of the net assets of the Trust as at March 31, 2021 was $4,003.7 million or $18.11 per unit, compared to $4,423.3 million or $19.95 per unit as at December 31, 2020. The Trust held 1,482,640 ounces of physical gold bullion and 60,229,739 ounces of physical silver bullion as at March 31, 2021, compared to 1,489,400 ounces of physical gold bullion and 60,395,784 ounces of physical silver bullion as at December 31, 2020. As at March 31, 2021, the spot price of physical gold bullion was