Gold and silver tend to attract attention whenever the markets start looking shaky, and with inflation still simmering and geopolitical tension never far from the surface, 2025 is no exception.
But let's face it: the big problem with precious metal is storage. It takes space, potentially a lot of space. If you’re not the type to bury coins in your backyard or stack bullion bars in your closet but you still want exposure, you might want to look at ETFs. They offer exposure to gold and silver without the headaches of storage, shipping premiums, or paying 20% over spot at the coin shop.
Here are three ETFs that make it easy to add a little precious metal to your portfolio. They all require a certain level of trust, but if you can make that leap, they’re worth a look.
SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
This is the granddaddy of all gold ETFs. Backed by physical gold stored in secure vaults, it’s got over $100 billion in assets and trades with high liquidity.
- Tracks the price of gold closely
- Expense ratio: 0.40%
- Highly liquid and easy to buy/sell
If you want a no-nonsense way to ride gold prices, this is the ETF most people turn to. It is the gold standard — pun intended. The expense ratio is a little high, which might turn some people off.
iShares Silver Trust (SLV)
When stacking physical metal, many of us turn to silver over gold. It’s cheaper and feels more accessible to the average investor. With ETFs we don't necessarily have that problem since most modern brokers will let you buy fractional shares, but if the idea of silver still appeals to you, SLV is your go-to. It’s the biggest silver ETF and gives you exposure to the daily price moves of silver without having to buy coins or rounds.
- Backed by physical silver
- Expense ratio: 0.50%
- Around $13B in assets
- More volatile than gold—but with more potential upside
Silver has a dual role as both a precious metal and an industrial metal, which gives it a slightly different risk/reward profile. Of note, this one also has a fairly high expense ratio.
Franklin Responsibly Sourced Gold ETF (FGDL)
This one is for investors who care where their gold comes from. FGDL focuses on gold that’s mined in an environmentally and socially responsible way, and it's had a strong recent run.
- Expense ratio: 0.15%
- Focus on ESG-friendly sourcing
- 1-year return was a whopping 44.02% (as of late 2024)
It's newer and less known than GLD, but for those looking for low fees and ethical sourcing, it's worth a look. I own more of this one than the others.
Bonus: Barrick Gold (GOLD)
Not an ETF, but worth mentioning—especially because Warren Buffett briefly owned shares of this company in 2020. Berkshire Hathaway took a position in Barrick Gold, one of the world’s biggest mining companies, despite Buffett’s long-standing skepticism of gold as an asset.
He sold off the position relatively quickly, but the fact that he ever bought it at all raised eyebrows. If Buffett saw something of value—however briefly—it might be worth giving this one a second glance.
I do not own any of this one and haven't researched it so I can't really comment too much. I actually only looked this up because of @thebighigg reminding me of it on another post. But again, because of Buffett's brief interest, it could be something to look at.
Now I know most of the people reading this probably hold physical silver and maybe gold, but do you hold any gold or silver ETFs or mining stocks? Let me know in the comments.