First-Year Review
Kurv's silver fund paid $7.70 in year one and still lagged the metal
iShares Silver Trust
$53.49−0.86 (−1.58%)
- 0.50%
- $29.9B
- +19.6%
- 17.4M sh
- $54.74
- low $41.70high $109.83
The ETF.net SLV Grade
A
Score 70 out of 100
- 2 of 9
Score 70 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.B67 out of 100Rank 3 of 9Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A96 out of 100Rank 1 of 7Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.D32 out of 100Rank 7 of 9Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A71 out of 100Rank 1 of 9Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A84 out of 100Rank 1 of 9
Our read on SLV
ASilver, unbundled: real bars sitting with a custodian, a share price that shadows the LBMA Silver Price less a 0.50% fee. Trading since 2006 and one of the busiest commodity funds on the tape, it's the default way people put silver in a brokerage account.
The Trust seeks to reflect the performance of silver prices before its expenses and liabilities. Its assets consist primarily of silver held by a custodian.
Why people hold it
- The deep end of the silver pool: running since 2006, a multi-billion-dollar trust, and very actively traded, which is what keeps spreads tight and the options market busy.
- Metal, not machinery. Assets are physical silver held by a custodian and priced off the LBMA Silver Price. No futures roll, no miner earnings, no swap counterparty.sec.gov
- 0.50% a year, under the typical physical-metal trust, and the design is about as plain as it gets: bullion price minus expenses, tracked closely.
Worth knowing
- SIVR runs the same physical-silver idea for 0.30%. The extra fee here buys size and trading depth, not different metal.
- No income. Bullion pays nothing, and the trustee sells silver to cover expenses, so the metal behind each share slowly shrinks.sec.gov
- One metal, one price. Nothing inside the trust cushions a silver drawdown, and silver is a jumpy market by nature.
SLV Holdings
- Other
- 1
- 100%
- Physical Silver
SLV Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
SLV$11,963
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | SLV |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −15.6% |
| 1 month | −6.5% |
| 3 months | +0.7% |
| 1 year | +19.6% |
| 3 years | +39.6% |
| 5 years | +21.0% |
| 10 years | +12.6% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | SLV |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −15.6% | |
| 2025 | +144.7% | |
| 2024 | +20.9% | |
| 2023 | −1.1% | |
| 2022 | +2.4% | |
| 2021 | −12.5% | |
| 2020 | +47.3% |
SLV in the news
Price vs Value
URNJ closed 1.57% below the value of its miners Friday
SLV Dividends
No distributions in the last 12 months.
SLV Risk
- 34.9%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.00
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −52.3%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 1.26
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
SLV Cost
0.50%
SLV0.50%
- The middle half of Physical Commodities funds
- Median 0.60%
2 of the 9 Physical Commodities funds charge less.
Other funds in Physical Commodities
- ASIVRabrdn Physical Silver Shares ETFExpense ratio 0.30%1 year return +20.3%
- BPLTMGraniteShares Platinum TrustExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return +4.8%
- BGLTRabrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETFExpense ratio 0.60%1 year return +7.0%
- BYSAGTexas Precious Metals Trust Y'all Street Physical Silver ETFExpense ratio 0.39%1 year return —
- BPPLTabrdn Physical Platinum Shares ETFExpense ratio 0.60%1 year return +4.7%