SPDR Gold Trust( GLD) Gold has attracted investors' attention for a very long time, not only due to its status as store of value and inflation-hedge, but also due to excellent diversification that it provides to the portfolio. GLD, launched in 2004 provided an innovative, cost-efficient and secure way to invest in the metal to such investors. Thus it's no surprise that GLD is the second most popular ETF with about $75 billion in assets under management.