Buying / selling ETFs is as simple as buying / selling any other stock on the exchange. ETFs allow investors to take benefit of intra-day movements in the market, which is not possible with open-ended funds. With ETFs one pays lower management fees. As ETFs are listed on the exchange, distribution and other operational expenses are significantly lower, making it cost effective.

These savings in cost are passed on to the investor. ETFs have lower tracking error due to the in-kind for creation and redemption.

For many years, gold has been used as an investment opportunity by investors to hedge against inflation. Historically, it has been seen that the performance of gold, as an asset class is inversely proportional to that of equity; i.e. generally when the equity markets fall, the demand for gold picks up and vice versa. Gold assets introduce the required diversification in your portfolio. Let's say; it is a teamwork between the two classes that makes your portfolio more stable.