U.S. Global Investors Advances Smart Beta 2.0 Strategy as GOAU ETF Transitions to Active Management and WAR ETF Marks One-Year Milestone
San Antonio, TX, Dec. 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- U.S. Global Investors, Inc. (NASDAQ:GROW) (the "Company"), a registered investment advisory firm with longstanding experience in global markets and specialized sectors, is proud to celebrate two significant milestones on December 30, 2025. In a year marked by historic moves in gold, the U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metals Miner ETF (GOAU) will transition from passive indexing to active management, enabling greater agility while remaining grounded in the Company's proprietary Smart Beta 2.0 investment discipline.
At the same time, the U.S. Global Technology and Aerospace & Defense ETF (WAR) celebrates its first anniversary, highlighting its targeted exposure to defense spending and the ongoing AI buildout.
Gold Momentum Drives GOAU to Active Management
2025 has been a record-setting year for gold, reports Reuters. Prices have reached historic levels, with spot gold touching $4,421 an ounce on December 22, amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty, central bank buying, and ongoing money printing. Investor interest has surged not only in physical bullion but also in gold and precious metals miners and royalty names.
Against this backdrop, U.S. Global Investors believes the current environment calls for greater selectivity and flexibility than a traditional index-based approach can offer. In response, the GOAU ETF is transitioning from tracking an index to a transparent, actively managed strategy, while keeping its fund name, ticker, and expense ratio unchanged – and while continuing to apply the same Smart Beta 2.0 framework that has guided the fund since inception.
"We believe we are entering a new phase of the precious metals cycle, where security selection matters more than broad exposure," said CEO and Chief Investment Officer Frank Holmes.
"GOAU has performed strongly year-to-date through December 18, and transitioning it to active management, while still guided by our Smart Beta 2.0 principles, allows us to identify quality miners, manage risk, and capitalize on emerging opportunities across the gold and precious metals space. This approach leverages our decades of expertise in gold to deliver thoughtful, differentiated exposure for our shareholders," Holmes continues.
Past performance does not guarantee future results.
One Year Strong: WAR ETF Powers Ahead in Defense and Ai
December-end marks the one-year anniversary of the WAR ETF, based on a strategy designed to capture growth at the cutting edge of defense and technology. WAR invests across aerospace and defense, semiconductors, cybersecurity, and data centers, using a Smart Beta 2.0 approach plus fundamental analysis to target high-quality companies set to benefit from long-term trends in the global defense sector.
"Defense has evolved into an information technology business, with governments investing billions in AI, data centers, cybersecurity, and semiconductors," said Holmes.
"WAR was built for this environment," Holmes continued. "The strategy reflects our Smart Beta 2.0 philosophy, combining disciplined factor-based selection with fundamental insights, to seek exposure to companies aligned with the modernization of global defense infrastructure."
Continued Commitment to Thematic, High-Conviction Sectors
These milestones reflect U.S. Global Investors' ongoing commitment to thematic, high-conviction areas of the market and to delivering innovative Smart Beta 2.0 strategies that aim to help investors access differentiated opportunities across gold, defense and technology as well as airlines, luxury goods and commodities.
We remain focused on providing thoughtfully managed products designed to navigate market cycles and create long-term value for our shareholders. We invite you to learn more about the entire suite of U.S. Global ETFs by visiting www.usglobaletfs.com.
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About U.S. Global Investors, Inc.
The story of U.S. Global Investors goes back more than 50 years when it began as an investment club. Today, U.S. Global Investors, Inc. (www.usfunds.com) is a registered investment adviser that focuses on niche markets around the world. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the Company provides investment advisory and other services to U.S. Global Investors Funds and U.S. Global ETFs.
This news release may include certain "forward-looking statements" including statements relating to revenues, expenses, and expectations regarding market conditions. These statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Please carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For this and other important information, obtain a statutory and summary prospectus for GOAU or WAR by clicking here or here. Read it carefully before investing.
Total Annualized Returns as of 9/30/2025:
| Fund | One-Year | Five-Year | Ten-Year | Since Inception | Gross Expense Ratio |
| U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF (NAV) | 103.85% | 18.78% | N/A | 17.87% | 0.60% |
| U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF (Market Value) | 105.01% | 18.79% | N/A | 17.90% | 0.60% |
| U.S. Global Technology and Aerospace & Defense ETF (NAV) | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25.07% | 0.60% |
| U.S. Global Technology and Aerospace & Defense ETF (Market Value) | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25.00% | 0.60% |
Performance data quoted above is historical. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Results reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings. For a portion of periods, the fund had expense limitations, without which returns would have been lower. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data quoted. The principal value and investment return of an investment will fluctuate so that your shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance does not include the effect of any direct fees described in the fund's prospectus which, if applicable, would lower your total returns. Performance quoted for periods of one year or less is cumulative and not annualized. Obtain performance data current to the most recent month-end at www.usfunds.com.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
The funds are actively-managed and there is no guarantee the investment objective will be met. The Fund is non-diversified, meaning it may concentrate its assets in fewer individual holdings than a diversified fund.
Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV and are not individually redeemed from the fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.
Because the fund concentrates its investments in specific industries, it may be subject to greater risks and fluctuations than a portfolio representing a broader range of industries. The fund is non-diversified, meaning it may concentrate a larger portion of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.
The fund invests in foreign securities, which involve greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. These risks are greater for investments in emerging markets. The fund may invest in the securities of smaller-capitalization companies, which may be more volatile than those of larger, more established companies.
Investments in gold, precious metals and minerals are subject to significant short-term price fluctuations and geopolitical, economic and regulatory risks. We believe these sectors are best limited to 5%–10% of a portfolio.
The S&P 500 is a stock market index that tracks the performance of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States, representing a broad measure of the U.S. equity market.
It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
Smart Beta 2.0 is an investment approach that combines the broad diversification and low cost of passive indexing with the factor-based insights and selectivity of active management strategies.
Fund holdings and allocations are subject to change at any time. Click here to view fund holdings for GOAU. Click here to view fund holdings for WAR.
GOAU and WAR are distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC. U.S. Global Investors is the investment adviser to GOAU and WAR.
Attachments
Holly Schoenfeldt U.S. Global Investors, Inc. 210.308.1268 [email protected]