OUNZ — VanEck Merk Gold Trust

OUNZ Price Performance — Growth of $10,000

Value of a $10,000 investment in OUNZ over time, compared with SPY. Both lines are rebased to $10,000 on the first shared date. Based on total returns — prices are adjusted for dividends and splits, so this assumes distributions were reinvested. Hover or tap the chart for exact values.

OUNZ Drawdown

The "underwater" chart: OUNZ's decline from its highest prior value at each point in time. It shows how deep past losses ran and how long the fund took to recover to break-even.

Overview

The VanEck Merk Gold Trust (OUNZ) is a commodities fund issued by Merk Funds with $2.69 billion in assets under management. It holds a D grade and ranks 17th out of 22 peers in its category, placing it in the lower tier of similar funds. The fund’s 0.25% expense ratio is notably lower than the category median of 0.595%, offering a cost advantage. However, it provides no dividend income, contrasting with the category median yield of 2.89%. Its overall standing is 383rd among 458 tracked ETFs across all categories.

Price action shows the fund trading at 4.7% of its 52-week range, indicating a position near the bottom of its recent historical bounds. Short-term returns are negative across one day, one week, one month, and six-month horizons, with the six-month decline reaching -15.32%. This recent weakness diverges from the three-year record, which shows a substantial +98.96% gain. The one-year return of -2.68% trails the category median of +9.06%. The fund was downgraded from a C to a D grade on 2026-10-19, and price history is available for only 3.0 years.

The fund exhibits high volatility at 28.30% annualized, suggesting significant price fluctuation. A beta of 0.35 indicates that its movements are less sensitive to overall market changes than the broader market. The negative Sharpe ratio of -0.27 reflects poor risk-adjusted returns over the measured period. Maximum drawdowns have reached -26.31%, highlighting the potential for substantial temporary losses. Liquidity is supported by an average daily volume of 572,529 shares.

AI-generated summary based on the data on this page.

Market Backdrop

10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.96% (as of 2026-10-22) — The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds — the standard "risk-free rate" benchmark used to contextualize this fund’s Sharpe ratio and returns.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX): 19.03 (as of 2026-10-22) — A real-time gauge of expected S&P 500 volatility over the next 30 days — useful context for this fund’s own volatility label.

Federal Funds Rate: 3.75% (as of 2026-09-01) — The Federal Reserve’s target policy rate, which anchors short-term borrowing costs across the economy.

OUNZ Liquidity, Domicile & Tax Treatment

Liquidity: Average daily volume is 573K/day. Higher volume and a larger fund generally mean lower round-trip trading costs. AUM of $2.69B provides ample scale, supporting tight spreads and issuer commitment to keep the fund open.

Domicile & tax treatment: OUNZ is a US-domiciled, SEC-registered ('40 Act) exchange-traded fund. Dividends and capital gains distributions are reported to US investors on Form 1099-DIV, and the fund is not subject to the PFIC reporting or UCITS-specific rules that apply to Irish- or Luxembourg-domiciled funds. Non-US investors should note that US-domiciled ETFs are generally subject to 30% US withholding tax on dividends (unless reduced by treaty) and to US estate tax exposure on the position — Irish-domiciled UCITS ETFs tracking the same index often avoid both, which is why non-US residents frequently prefer the UCITS equivalent where one exists. This is general information, not tax advice — consult a tax professional for your situation.

OUNZ Performance History

How OUNZ Compares to Other Commodities ETFs