Tabula Investment Management has launched an ESG-focused gold ETC that hopes to bypass the rampant moral risks in mining the precious metal.
The SMO Physical Gold ETC will track every ounce of gold from hand selected, independently audited mines.
With only 4% of all gold being traceable to its origin, Tabula CEO Michael John Lytle said there are “serious ESG risks in the gold supply chain”.
All this untraceable gold could potentially support human rights abuses, environmental degradation, financing of conflict and terrorism, money laundering and sanctions evasion.
“Some of the world’s largest major gold producers fail basic ESG screens, and existing standards in the gold industry are not sufficient,” Lytle added.
The fund will also avoid gold that has been ‘recycled’ from an unknown provenance, was extracted using mercury, or originated from Russia.
Screenings will be conducted by Single Mine Origin (SMO), which monitors mines and tracks the materials they produce all throughout the supply chain to ensure they are adhering to international best practice.
Charlie Betts, co-founder of CMO, said: “The only way to properly assess the social and environmental impacts of gold is to have full traceability across the supply chain. Proper accountability is not possible without this degree of transparency.”
The SMO Physical Gold ETC was listed on the London Stock Exchange today at a total expense ratio of 0.29%.
This article first appeared on our sister title Portfolio Adviser
