Sprott ESG Gold ETF
September 30, 2022
accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). The Trust’s net asset value (“NAV”) is determined by the Administrator, in conformity with U.S. GAAP, on each Business Day as of 4:00 p.m., (New York City time) or as soon thereafter as practicable.
The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to closely reflect the performance of the price of gold, less the Trust’s expenses and liabilities, through an investment in physical gold bullion that meets certain ESG criteria determined by the Sponsor and on a temporary basis in unallocated gold.
Shares of the Trust are listed on the Exchange under the ticker symbol “SESG”. The market price of the Shares may be different from the NAV per Share. Shares may be purchased from the Trust only by Authorized Participants and only in one or more blocks of 50,000 Shares (“Creation Units”). The Trust issues Shares in Creation Units on a continuous basis at the applicable NAV per Share on the creation order date.
The Trust commenced operations on July 19, 2022 when an Authorized Participant contributed 2,000 ounces of gold. The Trust commenced trading on the Exchange on August 2, 2022. The fiscal year of the Trust is December 31. At contribution, the value of the gold bullion deposited with the Trust was based on a price of $1,713.05 per ounce of gold. The initial Authorized Participant is not affiliated with the Sponsor or the Trustee. These shares represent units of undivided beneficial interests in and ownership of the Trust’s net assets.
The Trust pays the Sponsor a fee that will accrue daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.38% of the daily NAV of the Trust, paid monthly in arrears (the “Sponsor’s fee”). The Sponsor’s fee is accrued in and payable in U.S. dollars.
Valuation of Gold and Computation of Net Asset Value
The Administrator will determine the price of the Trust’s investment in gold by utilizing the PM price of gold expressed in U.S. dollars, as published by the LBMA (the “LBMA Gold Price PM”). If there is no LBMA Gold Price PM on any day, the Administrator is authorized to use that day’s LBMA Gold Price AM, or the most recently announced LBMA Gold Price PM or LBMA Gold Price AM. The LBMA Gold Price PM, which is used to value gold by many stakeholders in the securities industry, applies to all forms of gold and does not distinguish between ESG Approved Gold and other gold.
Results of Operations
For the period from July 19, 2022 to September 30, 2022, 350,000 Shares (inclusive of 2 Creation Units that were created upon the seeding of the Trust) were issued in exchange for cash that was used to purchase 7,000 fine ounces of gold. The Trust’s NAV per Share ended the period at $33.41 compared to $34.26 at July 19, 2022. The decrease in NAV per Share was due to a lower price of gold of $1,671.75 at period end, which represented a decrease of 2.41% from $1,713.05 at July 19, 2022.
The change in net assets from operations for the period ended September 30, 2022 was $(612,434), which was due to (i) the Sponsor’s fee of $7,102 and (ii) a net realized and unrealized loss of $605,332 from operations, which in turn resulted from a net change in unrealized depreciation on investments in gold bullion of $605,332. Other than the Sponsor’s fee, the Trust had no expenses during the period ended September 30, 2022.
At September 30, 2022, the Custodian held 7,000 ounces of gold on behalf of the Trust in its vault, with a market value of $11,702,009 (cost: $12,307,341) based on the LBMA PM Gold Price at period end.