One of the world’s leading providers of Exchange Traded Products entered the US ETF market on Friday with the launch of the ETFS Silver Trust (SIVR).
Introduced by ETF Securities Ltd (ETFS), the ETFS Silver Trust reflects the performance of the price of silver bullion, less the Trust’s operating expenses. The open-ended Trust is designed for investors who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in Silver as well as diversify their silver holdings.
ETFS Silver Trust is backed by physical silver bullion held by HSBC in London, one of the world’s leading Custodians for precious metals. The Shares represent an interest in physical silver bullion owned by the Trust. The physical silver bullion of the trust is subject to minimal counterparty or credit risks, which contrasts with other offerings that achieve bullion exposure through the use of derivatives.
ETFS is independently owned and currently has approximately USD $12 billion (as of July 24, 2009) of assets invested in over 130 of its products globally. In 2003, Graham Tuckwell, Chairman of ETFS, developed the world’s first Gold ETP in Australia and London. ETFS launched the world’s first Crude Oil ETP in 2005 and then developed a comprehensive product range of Commodity ETPs which were listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006. These products are not available to US Investors.
The $3.9 billion iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is currently the leading silver ETF.
See the Commodities ETF Directory for more information on investing in commodities with exchange traded funds.