GLTR vs SIVR

GLTRBabrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF

SIVRAabrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF

In short

GLTR Gold, silver, platinum and palladium in one wrapper, all held as physical bullion. GLTR is the rare one-ticker version of the entire precious-metals complex, running since 2010, and it owns the metal instead of renting exposure through futures.

SIVR Silver bullion in a vault, wrapped in a ticker. SIVR has done that one job since 2009 at 0.30% a year, half the going rate for physical metal funds, and fee is most of the tracking gap here.

Stated mandate

GLTR The Trust holds a physical bullion basket containing gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in specified proportions, with baskets issued against bullion deposits and bullion distributed on redemptions.

SIVR The Trust seeks to track the price of physical silver, after deducting its expenses.

Why people hold it

• GLTR Four metals, one ticker: the trust holds physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium in set proportions, with baskets created and redeemed in bullion rather than cash.aberdeeninvestments.com
• Trading since 2010 and now a multi-billion-dollar trust: one of the longest-standing ways to own the full metals basket inside a brokerage account.
• Because it holds bullion outright, its results have tracked the underlying metals basket closely, less expenses, among the tighter records in the physical-commodity group.
• The 0.60% fee sits right at the median for physically backed commodity funds, so the four-metal convenience is not priced above the category norm.

• SIVR 0.30% a year, versus a 0.60% median across physical metal funds and 0.50% at the biggest silver trust, SLV. When the mandate is just holding metal, cost is the differentiator.
• The mandate is one sentence: track the price of physical silver after expenses. Real metal, not futures contracts, swaps, or miner stocks standing in for the metal.
• A multi-billion-dollar trust that trades actively, so entering and exiting is usually a routine order rather than a hunt for the other side.
• Running since 2009 and rated among the strongest implementations in the physical commodity group, on both cost and how closely it delivers its stated mandate.

Worth knowing

• GLTR Single-metal siblings cost less: SIVR charges 0.30% and SLV 0.50%. Bundling four metals into one line item costs a little more than buying one.
• The proportions are set by the trust, and platinum and palladium bring industrial demand swings a gold-only holding does not. You cannot dial the mix yourself.
• No income here. It is a grantor trust holding metal, pays no distributions, and volume is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads deserve a glance.

• SIVR One metal, one price. Silver moves hard in both directions and there is no diversification inside the trust to soften it.
• Bullion generates no cash flow, so this is a price-only holding rather than an income one.
• It is a commodity trust, not a registered 1940 Act fund, so the legal protections and tax treatment differ from a standard stock or bond ETF.

Full GLTR profile⁠

Full SIVR profile⁠