Zacks #1 Ranked Silver ETFs: SLV, SIVR - ETF News And Commentary
September 19 2012 - 11:03AM
Zacks
Silver started the year 2012 on a strong note but as the year
progressed , a sluggish global economic outlook coupled with a
strong dollar, kept the prices on check (read: Top Commodity ETFs
In This Uncertain Market). Still silver managed to outperform many
other commodity products in the space since the beginning of the
year. The metal got further support from the announcement of
another round of quantitative easing (QE) last week.
While it is aimed at enhancing economic growth, QE3 might also
curtail the dollar value, providing further boost to the silver
bullion prices. The demand for this precious metal has been growing
due to low interest rates in the developed and many emerging
markets, that are attracting investors towards precious metals for
better storage of wealth.
The white metal will not only continue to benefit from being a
precious metal and a store of wealth, but also from a number of key
industrial applications (read: Are Silver ETFs Back on Track?).
About 50% of the metal’s total demand comes from industrial
applications while 30% comes from jewelry/silverware/coins and
medal manufacturers.
Silver metal ETFs are generally more volatile than their gold
counterparts thanks to high beta (read: Four Easy Ways to Play Beta
and Volatility with ETFs). As a result, investors might like to
consider suitable silver ETFs to play the bullish trend in the
precious metal space.
Below we have analyzed two Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) ranked
silver ETFs - iShares Silver Trust (SLV) and EFTS Physical Silver
Shares Trust (SIVR) as we expect these funds to outperform their
peers.
About the Zacks ETF Rank
The Zacks ETF Rank provides a recommendation for the ETF in the
context of our outlook for the underlying industry, sector, style
box, or asset class. Our proprietary methodology also takes into
account the risk preferences of investors. ETFs are ranked on a
scale of 1 (Strong Buy) to 5 (Strong Sell) while they also receive
one of three risk ratings, namely Low, Medium, or High.
The aim of our models is to select the best ETFs within each
risk category. We assign each ETF one of five ranks within each
risk bucket. Thus, the Zacks Rank reflects the expected return of
an ETF relative to other products with a similar level of risk.
iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV)
Launched in April 2006, this fund generated nearly 104% of
returns over the past three years. It is the largest and most
popular silver bullion ETF in the space with assets of $10.4
billion under management (see more ETFs in the Zacks ETF
Center).
The fund tracks almost 100% the physical price of silver bullion
measured in U.S. dollars, and kept in London under the custody of
JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.. Each share represents about an ounce of
silver at current prices. The trust issues and redeems shares in
the basket form, and hence the ETF often loses its value relative
to the actual silver price.
The product offers diversification benefits for the long-term
investors, making it the most attractive metal after gold. Though
not a low-cost choice due to its 50 bps expense ratio, SLV has a
lower bid ask spread, which could lessen total costs slightly for
this popular fund. The ETF is highly traded in volumes of more than
12 million shares per day on average (read: Guide to the 25 Most
Liquid ETFs).
The fund has gained over 24% so far this year (as of September
14), making it a solid bet at present.
ETFS Physical Silver Shares (SIVR)
This fund has emerged as a strong winner in the silver bullion
space, returning more than 104% over the last three years. It
offers simple and cost-efficient ways to investors seeking exposure
to silver bullion.
Launched in July 2009, the product so far attracted assets of
$594.8 million and tracks the spot price of silver, net of fees and
expenses. It owns silver bars to back the shares under the custody
of HSBC Bank USA in London.
The product is the low cost choice in the silver commodity space
charging investors a fee of 30 bps per year with low bid/ask spread
and good tracking error. It trades in volumes of more than 200,000
shares per day. Like the iShares counterpart, the product generated
excellent returns of about 25% year-to-date (as of September 14)
(read: The Five Best ETFs over the Past Five Years).
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ETF-SILVER TRST (SIVR): ETF Research Reports
ISHARS-SLVR TR (SLV): ETF Research Reports
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