ETFS Precious Metals Basket shares starts trading on NYSE Arca

ETF Securities announced today that ETFS Precious Metals Basket shares will list on the NYSE Arca on October 22, 2010 trading under the ticker symbol GLTR “Glitter”.

Key highlights of GLTR:

• Unique offering: ETFS Physical Precious Metal Basket Shares (Ticker: GLTR) will be the first US-based physically backed precious metal basket ETP to hold gold, silver, platinum and palladium in fixed weights. GLTR complements the existing suite of products provided by ETF Securities and continues to offer the broadest range of physically backed precious metal ETPs in the US market.
• Precious metals Basket: It is expected that GLTR will appeal to those investors looking for a “one size fits all” ETP for their precious metal exposure.⁽⁸⁾
• Cost effective: The Sponsor’s Fee for GLTR will be 0.60%⁽³⁾. It is expected that the transaction costs for buying and selling the Shares will be lower than purchasing, storing and insuring physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
• Liquid⁽⁶⁾ – The Shares will trade on the NYSE Arca. The Trust structure allows for shares to be created and redeemed according to supply and demand in the market.
• Transparent – The gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion held by the trust is inspected biannually by the independent metal assayer, Inspectorate International. 
• Flexible – The shares are available to be bought or sold, like ordinary listed securities throughout the trading day. The shares are eligible for margin accounts.

ETFS Precious Metals Basket Trust

The objective of the ETFS Precious Metals Basket Trust (GLTR) shares reflect the performance of the price of Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium, less the Trust’s expenses. The Trust is open ended and is designed for investors who want a cost-effective ⁽¹⁾ and convenient ⁽²⁾ way to invest in all four precious metals as well as diversify their precious metal holdings. The product has an gross expense ratio of 0.60% per annum. ⁽³⁾

The Shares represent beneficial interest in the Trust, which holds physical allocated gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion held in vaults by the Custodian (JP Morgan Chase Bank). All physical bullion held with JP Morgan Chase Bank conforms to the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA)⁽⁴⁾ and London Platinum and Palladium Market Association’s (LPPM)⁽⁵⁾ rules for Good Delivery. Gold and Silver will be held in London and Platinum and Palladium will be held in London or Zurich.

ETF Securities is the first US ETF Sponsor to provide investors with access to a full suite of precious metal ETPs. Investors can now trade physically-backed Gold, Silver, Platinum , Palladium & Precious Metals Basket ETPs from the same provider. The five precious metal ETPs have the following key features:

• Track spot price of underlying metal less associated management fees⁽¹⁾
• Physically backed by underlying bullion – minimal counterparty risk
• Gold, Silver, Platinum & Palladium vaulted in London and Switzerland
• Bullion holdings audited by specialist audit firm biannually
• Bullion bar list published on website
• Low cost⁽¹⁾
• Options ⁽²⁾ are trading on ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL) and ETFS Physical Silver Shares (SIVR).

Commenting on Friday’s listing of the ETFS Physical Precious Metal Basket on NYSE ARCA, Fred Jheon, Head of Product and Business Development of ETFS Marketing LLC, said:

“GLTR was developed in response to demand from a diverse client base looking for a single ticker solution that provides cost-effective precious metals exposure in a physically-backed fund. GLTR complements the existing four individual precious metals products ETF Securities offers to US investors – SIVR, SGOL, PPLT and PALL – and allows our clients to either hold each product individually or customize according to their investment outlook. We believe that the introduction of this unique product will fill a need in the marketplace and position ETF Securities for further growth in the US.”

ETF Securities Ltd (ETFS), one of the world’s leading providers of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), is independently owned and currently has USD $22 billion (as of September 28, 2010) of assets invested in over 180 of its products globally.

The new listing comes from the same management team who created ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL) and ETFS Physical Silver Shares (SIVR) in 2009, as well as ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT) and ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (PALL) in January 2010, which have combined assets under management of US$2bn as of September 28th, 2010.