Insight

Our commitment towards responsible gold

Our commitment towards responsible gold

LBMA's Responsible Gold Guidance

Introduced in 2012, the LBMA’s¹ Responsible Gold Guidance requires strict adherence to rules around the provenance of gold for its Good Delivery refiners.

It was set up to combat systematic or widespread abuses of human rights, to avoid contributing to conflict, to comply with high standards of anti-money laundering, and to combat terrorist financing practices in the entire gold supply chain.

The Guidance has been regularly updated since its introduction, most recently in 2021 to address corporate governance, environmental and sustainability issues. All refiners wishing to sell into the London Bullion Market must implement and adhere to LMBA’s Responsible Sourcing Programme in order to remain on the LBMA Good Delivery List. 

The Guidance is based on internationally recognised frameworks such as OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chain of Minerals from Conflict Affected and High Risk Areas, Swiss and US KYC, Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing regulations. These detailed standards help to ensure companies respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict. As such, the Guidance crosses over with several UN Global Compact Sustainable Development Goals including no poverty, reduced inequality, peace justice and strong institutions. 

Compliance with the Guidance include measures such as:

  • Supporting initiatives facilitating responsible supply chains for all forms of mining in areas of conflict or human rights abuse 
  • Refiners are required to engage on ESG issues with their suppliers and assist them in implementing ESG policies
  • LBMA accredited refiners must meet the guidance standards
  • Refiners are independently audited on an annual basis and are required to report publicly 
  • Failure to comply may result in immediate removal from the Good Delivery List.

Invesco Physical Gold ETC

Since we can only be certain that gold minted from 2012 onward has been sourced in compliance with the LBMA’s Responsible Gold Guidance, we have instructed our custodian, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, to minimise the Invesco Physical Gold ETC’s exposure to gold minted prior to this date. As a result, since July 2020, 100% of the gold bars held in the segregated account of the Invesco Physical Gold ETC are minted since 2012.

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Investment risks

  • For complete information on risks, refer to the legal documents.

    Value fluctuation: The value of investments, and any income from them, will fluctuate. This may partly be the result of changes in exchange rates. Investors may not get back the full amount invested.

    Limited recourse: If the issuer cannot pay the specified return, the precious metal will be used to repay investors. Investors will have no claim on the other assets of the Issuer.

    Commodities: Instruments providing exposure to commodities are generally considered to be high risk which means there is a greater risk of large fluctuations in the value of the instrument.

    Currency hedging – ETCs: Currency hedging between the currency in which the underlying precious metal is typically quoted and the currency of the certificates may not completely eliminate the currency fluctuations between those two currencies and may affect the performance of the certificates.

Footnotes

  • London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”) is the primary standard-setting body for the global wholesale market for gold and other precious metals

Important information

  • Data as at 31.10.2023, unless otherwise stated.

    This is marketing material and not financial advice. It is not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any particular asset class, security or strategy. Regulatory requirements that require impartiality of investment/investment strategy recommendations are therefore not applicable nor are any prohibitions to trade before publication.

    Views and opinions are based on current market conditions and are subject to change. All investment decisions must be based only on the most up to date legal offering documents. The legal offering documents (Key Information Document (KID), Base Prospectus and financial statements) are available free of charge at our website www.invesco.eu and from the issuers.