The Different Ways to Invest in Gold in the UK
There are four broad routes UK investors use to get exposure to gold, each with a different balance of cost, convenience and tax treatment.
Physical Gold – Bars and Coins
Buying gold bars or coins gives direct ownership of the metal itself. UK legal-tender coins – Gold Sovereigns and Gold Britannias, minted by the Royal Mint – carry a notable tax advantage explained below. Physical gold requires secure storage and insurance, which typically costs in the region of 0.5%-1.5% of the holding per year, and it generates no income while held.
Gold ETFs and ETCs
Exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded commodities that track the gold price – available via our ETF offering – let investors gain exposure without arranging storage. They trade on an exchange like a share, typically carry annual charges of around 0.12%-0.19%, and – unlike physical bars – can be held inside a stocks and shares ISA or SIPP.
Gold Mining Shares
Buying shares in gold mining companies via a share dealing account gives indirect exposure to the gold price, geared to some extent by the operational performance of the business itself. That means mining shares can move quite differently from the gold price on any given day – as Thursday’s FTSE 100 session showed, when miners fell even as gold held firm – because company-specific factors (production costs, output, currency exposure) also drive the share price.
Gold Within a Stocks and Shares ISA
Gold ETFs and ETCs such as those tracking physical gold can be held inside a stocks and shares ISA, where all gains are free of Capital Gains Tax. The 2026/27 ISA allowance is £20,000. Gold funds can also be held in a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), which adds income-tax relief on contributions at the saver’s marginal rate.
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