GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR) risk factors, FY2025 10-K

Other

1. 01Because the Shares are created to reflect the price of the gold held by the Trust, the market price of the Shares will be as unpredictable as the price of gold has historically been. This creates the potential for losses, regardless of whether you hold Shares for the short-, mid- or long-term
2. 02Conversely, several factors may trigger a temporary increase in the price of gold prior to your investment in the Shares. If that is the case, you will be buying Shares at prices affected by the temporarily high prices of gold, and you may incur losses when the causes for the temporary increase disappear
3. 03Future governmental decisions may have significant impact on the price of gold, which may result in a significant decrease or increase in the value of the net assets and the net asset value of the Trust
4. 04The Trust is a passive investment vehicle. This means that the value of your Shares may be adversely affected by Trust losses that, if the Trust had been actively managed, it might have been possible to avoid
5. 05The result obtained by subtracting the Trust’s expenses and liabilities on any day from the price of the gold owned by the Trust on that day is the net asset value of the Trust which, when divided by the number of Shares outstanding on that day, results in the NAV per Share
6. 06An investment in the Trust may be adversely affected by competition from other methods of investing in gold
7. 07The Trust may be forced to sell gold earlier than anticipated if expenses are higher than expected
8. 08Because the Trust is not a diversified investment, it may be more volatile than other investments
9. 09The liquidation of the Trust may occur at a time when the disposition of the Trust’s gold will result in losses to investors in Shares
10. 10The liquidity of the Shares may also be affected by the withdrawal from participation of Authorized Participants
11. 11Authorized Participants with large holdings may choose to terminate the Trust
12. 12The lack of an active trading market for the Shares may result in losses on your investment at the time of disposition of your Shares
13. 13If the process of creation and redemption of Baskets encounters any unanticipated difficulties, the possibility for arbitrage transactions intended to keep the price of the Shares closely linked to the price of gold may not exist and, as a result, the price of the Shares may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV
14. 14As an owner of Shares, you will not have the rights normally associated with ownership of other types of shares
15. 15As an owner of Shares, you will not have the protections normally associated with ownership of shares in an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act, or the protections afforded by the Commodity Exchange Act
16. 16The value of the Shares will be adversely affected if gold owned by the Trust is lost or damaged in circumstances in which the Trust is not in a position to recover the corresponding loss
17. 17Any loss of gold owned by the Trust will result in a corresponding loss in the net asset value of the Trust and it is reasonable to expect that such loss will also result in a decrease in the value at which the Shares are traded on the Exchange
18. 18Neither the Shareholders nor any Authorized Participant will have a right under the Custody Agreements to assert a claim of the Trustee against the Custodian. Claims under the Custody Agreements may only be asserted by the Trustee on behalf of the Trust
19. 19The value of the Shares will be adversely affected if any services provided to the Trust by the Sponsor, the Custodian or the Trustee are suddenly or unexpectedly terminated
20. 20The value of the Shares will be adversely affected if the Trust is required to indemnify the Sponsor, the Trustee, or the Custodian as contemplated in the Trust Agreement and the Custody Agreements
21. 21The service providers engaged by the Trust may not carry adequate insurance to cover claims against them by the Trust, which could adversely affect the value of net assets of the Trust
22. 22The Sponsor and its affiliates manage other funds, including those that invest in physical gold bullion or other precious metals, and conflicts of interest may occur, which may reduce the value of the net assets of the Trust, the NAV and the trading price of the Shares
23. 23The Sponsor and the Trustee may agree to amend the Trust Agreement without the consent of the Shareholders
24. 24Shareholders could incur a tax liability without an associated distribution of the Trust
25. 25Geopolitical events, including the conflict in the Middle East, the continuation of the war in Ukraine and other hostilities could disrupt and potentially impact the business activities of the Sponsor and its service providers and have an adverse effect on the Trust
26. 26The Trust as well as the Sponsor and its service providers are vulnerable to the effects of public health crises such as the coronavirus pandemic (the “COVID-19 pandemic”)