Investing in silver: what are your options?

You can invest in silver in several ways. The most common investment options are physical silver, silver ETFs, silver mining shares, and silver futures or options. On this page, we outline the different options so you can find out which one suits you best.

Investing in physical silver

Investing in physical silver means your investment is tangible and you have direct control over your holding. You're not dependent on third parties or fund managers. Physical silver retains its value in times of inflation and economic uncertainty, just like gold. After all, it's easy to convert into cash. Because you own the physical silver, it's also well protected against bankruptcies or digital risks such as hacks, which offers peace of mind.

At GoldRepublic, your silver is stored safely and insured in independent vaults. This means you don't have to store your silver at home and don't need to worry about the additional security risks and insurance costs that come with home storage. You also benefit from a buyback guarantee, so you can sell your silver back at any time at the current silver price.

Overview: other ways to invest in silver

Silver ETFs

A silver ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a fund that tracks the silver price without you having to hold physical silver. These ETFs are traded on the stock exchange and are accessible to consumers via a broker. Additional costs are often relatively low, and investors can often start with a small amount. The advantage is that you can easily invest in silver without the storage or insurance concerns of physical silver.

The downside is that you don't physically own your silver investment. There's also a counterparty risk. Because an ETF operates entirely within the financial system, its value can deviate from the actual silver price, or the product's functioning can be affected by problems at banks, financial institutions, or market participants. Many investors choose gold or silver precisely as insurance against such systemic risks; it's therefore important to realise that an ETF itself is part of that same system. This makes it worth consciously considering this counterparty and systemic risk before investing.

Silver mining shares

Silver mining shares are shares in companies that mine silver. This allows investors to invest in silver indirectly, by benefiting from the business results of silver mines. If the silver price rises, the profits of silver mines can increase relatively more, because their fixed operating costs stay the same. This can lead to larger price gains for silver mining shares than for silver itself.

Silver mining shares can offer higher returns than silver itself, but also come with higher volatility and business risk.

Silver futures/options

With futures and options on silver, investors can speculate on the future silver price. A silver future is a contract to buy or sell a fixed amount of silver on an agreed date at a predetermined price. Options give the right (without the obligation) to buy or sell silver at a strike price, with the loss limited to the premium paid.

These instruments are mainly recommended for experienced investors due to their complexity, high volatility, and risks.

Building an investment portfolio with silver

Silver can be an interesting addition to an existing investment portfolio, which currently, for example, mainly consists of stocks and/or bonds.

The silver price typically doesn't have a stable, strong correlation with the price of stocks and bonds. This can make it an interesting precious metal to diversify your portfolio with.

The 'ideal' percentage of your assets you can invest in silver depends on the risk you're willing to take and your investment goals. Cautious investors, for example, might choose 5% to 10%, while more adventurous investors might hold more than 10%.

You can choose one type of silver investment, but you can also combine several options.

When is a good time to buy silver?

Investors naturally prefer to enter when the price is low and sell their position when the price is high. But since no one can flawlessly predict the market (and therefore what the silver price will do), it's difficult to perfectly time buying and selling moments.

Silver is generally more volatile than gold, meaning the price can rise and fall faster and more sharply. This brings more risk, but also more opportunities for higher returns. As a general rule, investments held for longer periods have a greater chance of a higher return. With this in mind, investors often prefer to start investing in silver as early as possible and hold it for as long as possible. This increases the chance that you'll achieve a good return on your silver investment.

Only invest in silver with money you can afford to do without for now, and be aware of the risks involved in investing in silver: you could lose (part of) your investment.

Is buying silver monthly a smart idea?

Since no one can predict the market, it can be wise to spread your investment over several months. This is called dollar-cost averaging (DCA).

This way, you periodically buy silver for a fixed amount, for example every week, two weeks, or month. Because you buy at different moments, you spread the risk of price fluctuations and sometimes buy at a higher price and sometimes at a lower one. This helps lower your average purchase price and reduces the risk of poor timing.

Through GoldRepublic's Silver Savings Plan, you can automatically buy silver periodically, starting from as little as €50 or 1 gram of silver. Transaction costs on the savings plan are 50% lower than for a one-off purchase, which benefits your returns. This approach makes it easier and more accessible to invest in silver over the long term without the stress of market timing.