BlackRock announced Friday that the board of directors has authorized a 10-for-1 split of the popular iShares COMEX Gold Trust
With more than $3 billion in total assets, IAU is the second-largest physically backed gold ETF behind SPDR Gold Shares
Although it's one of the largest exchange-traded products offering exposure to commodity prices, IAU trails its primary competitor in the ETF space by a wide margin. GLD has about 1,300 tonnes of gold in its vaults, more than all but a few sovereign wealth funds. IAU's gold holdings come in at about 85 tonnes, a significant amount of bullion, but far smaller than the total of the gold SPDR.