Best Silver ETFs in the UK to Watch

Investing in precious metals is one way that some people hedge against the stock market. In this guide, we explore 10 popular silver ETFs in the UK, to see how the price of silver behaves, and see what makes this asset class tick.

10 Popular Silver ETFs UK List Based on Trading Volumes

If you don’t wish to spend much time looking for silver ETFs in the UK, you might want to research any of these ETFs. If anything looks interesting, keep reading, as we will talk about each of these options in detail, later on.

1. iShares Silver Trust ETF
2. Aberdeen Standard Physical Silver Share ETF
3. Global X Silver Miners ETF
4. iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF
5. ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF
6. Invesco DB Silver Fund
7. WisdomTree Physical Silver
8. Sprott Physical Silver Trust
9. ProShares Ultra Silver
10. Pan American Silver Corp

Silver ETFs UK Reviewed

We spent a lot of time researching silver ETFs UK for 2022.

There were plenty of different factors that we looked into to, these include:

• The type of silver ETF
• Whether the ETF is backed by physical silver
• The ETF provider’s reputation and financial standing
• Stock exchanges that silver ETF is listed on
• How much silver ETFs UK charge in annual fees
• What is the minimum amount that you need to invest in silver ETF UK

1) iShares Silver Trust ETF

iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) is the largest silver ETF, it was launched back in 2006, and it holds over 600 million ounces of physical silver in its vaults.

The vaults themselves are located in the US and UK, specifically, England. As such, iShares Silver Trust ETF definitely backs each of its silver shares with physical silver, and investing in it is much better than having to buy and store entire silver bullion.

In terms of its price, SLV has been performing well ever since its price crashed in March 2020 due to COVID-19 fears. On March 15th, the price was only $11.65. By August of the same year, it skyrocketed to $26.09. After that, it saw some fluctuations. For example, it corrected to around $21, only to climb again in 2021, and at the time of writing (March 20th, 2021) it sits at $24.31.

2) Aberdeen Standard Physical Silver Share ETF

Next on the list of silver ETFs UK is the Aberdeen Standard Physical Silver Share ETF. It is another affordable physically-backed silver ETH, whose fees are 20 basis points lower than iShares’ ETFs offering, where 1 basis point is one-hundredth of 1%. As such, it is less expensive, but other than that, there is little difference between the two.

As mentioned, both are backed by physical silver, with Aberdeen’s silver being kept in London vaults in the form of bullion bars. It is also worth mentioning that SIVR shares represent an interest in silver, minus the expenses of the fund. Lastly, both ETFs track silver rather closely, with near-identical charts.

As mentioned, the fund has performed similarly to SLV, with a crash in March, and then a surge that ended in early August 2020. After that, it has been trading sideways with some fluctuations, mostly sticking to the price of $25.

3) Global X Silver Miners ETF

Next up, there is Global X Silver Miners ETF, which doesn’t actually invest in silver itself. Instead, it invests in companies that mine silver out of the ground. As such, it falls under the category of mining stocks, and one thing that you should know about them is that they extract silver ore and process it. The important part is that they do it at a much lower price than what they sell the silver for.

Global X Silver Miners ETF has been around for over 10 years, and it has over 40 companies that are involved in mining. Not all of them actually mine physical silver — many only hold royalty or do some other type of work, but they are all connected to mining in some way.

Last March, the shares dipped due to coronavirus pandemic, only to see a sharp recovery that took them to $50 per share. At the time of writing, the share price is below this level, at $42.8.

4) iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF

iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF has an interest in firms that mine other metals, as well, but the fund’s tracking index starts each rebalancing by tracking firms that mine primarily silver. Only after that does it seek firms that work with gold and other metals. After that, it limits the weight of gold and mid-cap gold firms to 5% of their market cap. After that, it caps the issuers that weigh at 25%, and then it makes sure that all issuers with a weight greater than 5% do not get a chance to combine and go over 50% of the entire weight of the fund.

It is a different approach but still offers silver-mining exposure. Plus, it is 27 basis points cheaper than the fund offered by Global X, so it brings that to the table, as well. The company has around $251 million in assets under management.

Price-wise, the ETF is currently sitting at $16 and trading in the green. It has recovered by $10 from the dip in March 2020, and it mostly goes up and down between $15 and $17.

5) ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF

Junior miners, on the other hand, are teams of people that help point major mining firms in the right direction. Essentially, their job is to find new silver deposits and determine whether or not it is worth digging it up. It is a high-risk investment, high-reward business, but ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF, or SILJ, has the advantage of being the first and only ETF that targets small-cap silver miners. It holds some more than decent smaller players, but it also invests in traditional silver miners, too. It has been around for almost a decade, which is proof enough that the company knows what it is doing. Furthermore, while its price is not exactly near its ATH, it is not that far away either, only around $6. At the time of writing, its share price is $15.60 — higher than ever in the last four years.

6) Invesco DB Silver Fund (DBS)

Invesco DB Silver Fund is a silver ETF fund investments that you can find, with 1-year trailing total returns sitting at 58%, and an expense ratio of 0.75%. It holds roughly $30 million in assets under management, and it has been around for about 14 years, now. It is structured as a commodity pool, and it tracks the DBIQ Optimum Yield Silver Index Excess Return, which aims to track the price of silver derivatives, primarily futures.

In terms of price, the fund has seen a major impact due to the coronavirus pandemic, like the others before it. However, also like the others, it recovered, soared to impressive heights, and then corrected somewhat, still ending up significantly higher than before the pandemic has struck. At the time of writing, it sits at $36.8, with a 0.85% increase in the past 24 hours.

7) WisdomTree Physical Silver

WisdomTree Physical Silver is designed to offer security holders a way to access the silver market. The total expense ratio amounts to around $0.49, and it is very large, with over 2.1 million EUR in assets under management. It is physically backed, and it has seen relatively decent price stability as of late.

8) Sprott Physical Silver Trust

Up next, there is Sprott Physical Silver Trust, which has actually seen a massive price increase after March 2020. Before that, its price did not perform particularly well, mostly sitting at $6 on average for several years. Following the March crash, the price surged to $10, then corrected to $8.16, only to grow again to $9.41 at the time of writing. All in all it is at its highest point in over 7 years now, and with more than 11 years since launch.

It works as a closed-end mutual funds trust, and it intends to invest primarily in long-term holdings of fully-allocated, unencumbered physical silver bullions. It does not speculate in regard to short-term changes in the silver price.

9) ProShares Ultra Silver

Up next, we have ProShares Ultra Silver, which is currently quite high, sitting at around $47.5. While it did go higher in September 2020, when it hit $63, this was the highest price that the asset has seen in over 5 years. Previously, it climbed to similar heights in 2016, but between then and September 2020, it spent most of the time much lower.

Unlike our previous entry, ProShares Ultra Silver seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses.

10) Pan American Silver Corp

Lastly, we have PAAS — Pan American Silver Corp, which has seen quite a bit of volatility since it recovered from a price drop last March. From August 2020 onwards, the price has seen significant fluctuations, constantly going between $30 and $37.5.

The company itself is engaged in the production and sale of silver, but also other metals, such as gold, copper, zinc, and lead. Still, silver remains its primary product, and it is produced in multiple countries of South America and Mexico.

Important Features of Silver ETFs

With the list of silver ETFs for UK investors out of the way, it might be worth discussing whether or not they are actually a good investment. In the end, it all comes down to every individual investor and their preference.

Silver ETFs provide a way to invest into the metal and hedge against currency inflation. There are numerous industrial applications of silver so it is considered to be a stable investment. There is a growing demand while the supply seems to be declining — silver mine production has been dropping for several years in a row now, and more.

Silver ETF UK investment Platforms

The next thing that we need to discuss is silver ETFs UK investment platforms and investment apps. As you can imagine, trading has become quite big over the last decade, and there are plenty of platforms to choose from. But, since they are not all equal, there are things that you need to look for when choosing a stock broker when you want to invest in commodities. For starters, you must ensure that it actually supports your preferred silver ETF, and check out its fees, as they can be surprisingly high in some situations.

Conclusion

So, if you are interested in silver mining ETFs, or any other silver ETFs, you can definitely reach plenty of them on FCA brokers, which can be commission-free. ETF trading means investors don’t usually have to worry about transporting actual silver or storing it.