Oakeyflat "Only large transactions change the size of the fund"....

Oakeyflat

"Only large transactions change the size of the fund". Agreed.

But who is behind these large transactions?

SPDR is a share listed on the NYSE. Retail investors buy and sell them by placing orders with brokers. Some of these brokers are "authorised participants" according to the conditions of Page 19 of the SPDR Prospectus, and can buy and sell SPDR shares directly with SPDR by application and redemptions.
http://www.spdrgoldshares.com/media/GLD/file/SPDRGoldTrustProspectus2012.pdf

Who are these "authorised participants" acting for?

They might be acting for themselves, but that is unlikely. Any company that can buy and sell gold indirectly in those volumes will avoid the fees, cut out the middle man and deal directly in the spot market.

Broker dealers (even the ones with physical dealing, settlement and custody capability) will be happy to place orders to buy and sell SPDR shares for anyone. Business is business. Brokerage is income. When the volumes are large enough, buys and sells will be pooled (maybe even "dark pooled") and dealt directly with SPDR.


My point is that swings in SPDR inventory do not result from centralised investment decisions, but the aggregation of thousands of individual investment decisions. The idea that these decisions are collectively deliberate, or can be manipulated is nonsense.