Silver exchange-traded products are exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded notes and closed-end funds that aim to track the price of silver. Silver exchange-traded products are traded on the major stock exchanges including the London and New York Stock Exchanges. The U.S Geological Survey cites the emergence of silver ETFs as a significant factor in the 2007-2011 price rise of silver. As of September 2011, the largest of these funds holds the equivalent of over one third of the world's total annual silver production.
Products
Physically backed funds
Central Fund of Canada and Silver Bullion Trust are closed-end funds created by the same Canadian founders and mandated to keep the bulk of their net assets in precious metals, with a small percentage of cash. The Central Fund of Canada holds a mix of gold and silver, while the Silver Bullion Trust holds only silver. The Central Fund of Canada and Silver Bullion Trust initial public offerings were completed in 1961 and 2009 respectively.
iShares Silver Trust was launched by iShares in April 2006. As of November 2010, iShares Silver Trust is the largest silver ETF on the market with over 335 million troy ounces of silver in storage.
ETFS Physical Silver was launched by ETF Securities in April 2007 and is backed by allocated silver bullion. ETF Securities have since launched physical silver ETFs on multiple exchanges around the world including Paris, Australia, New York and Tokyo. ETFS Physical Silver is backed by allocated bullion in the form of LBMA bars held with a custodian, HSBC Bank USA, and audited twice a year by an independent third party, Inspectorate International Ltd.
ZKB Silver ETF was launched by Zürcher Kantonalbank in May 2007 and invests exclusively in physical silver.
Sprott Physical Silver Trust is a closed-end fund created by Sprott Asset Management. The initial public offering was completed on November 3, 2010.
Other products
BOOST Silver 3X Leverage Daily Boost Silver 3X Short Daily
Boost provides a range of 3x commodity and equity short and leveraged ETFs. In Silver as well as Gold Boost offers 3x leveraged and short versions listed on the London Stock Exchange. The products are fully collateralized and have multiple market makers who will offer deep and liquid markets. GBP quoted versions also exist.
PureFunds ISE Junior Silver was launched in November, 2012, and is designed to track the performance of the ISE Junior Silver Index, less investor fees.
ETFS Silver was launched by ETF Securities in September 2006 and tracks the DJ-UBS Silver Sub-Index
PowerShares DB Silver, an ETF which holds primarily futures contracts for physical delivery, which are later sold to silver consumers in order to roll over expiring contracts to contracts further from expiration. ProShares Ultra Silver, seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to twice the daily performance of silver bullion as measured by the U.S. Dollar fixing price for delivery in London. ProShares UltraShort Silver in the corresponding 2x inverse ETF.
UBS E-TRACS CMCI Silver Total Return is designed to track the performance of the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Silver Total Return, less investor fees.
Horizons BetaPro COMEX Silver ETF aims to correspond to the performance of the COMEX silver futures contract for a subsequent delivery month.
Risks
Each silver ETF, ETN, and CEF has a different structure outlined in its prospectus. Such instruments do not necessarily hold physical silver. For example, silver ETNs generally track the price of silver using derivatives. All exchange-traded silver instruments, including those that hold physical silver for the benefit of the investor, carry risks beyond those inherent in the precious metal itself. The most popular silver ETF has been compared with mortgage-backed securities due to its complexity.
