The iShares Gold Trust (NYSEMKT:IAU) provides lower-cost exposure to gold bullion, while the abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (NYSEMKT:SIVR) offers a direct, albeit more volatile, play on physical silver prices.
Both funds serve as commodity proxies, allowing investors to hedge against inflation or currency devaluation without storing physical metal. While they share a common purpose as store-of-value assets, silver’s industrial applications and gold’s safe-haven status lead to distinct risk profiles. Comparing them involves looking at cost, liquidity, and historical volatility.
Snapshot (cost & size)
Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns over the available fund history (up to five years). The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Neither fund has a dividend yield, because neither pays dividends.
The iShares fund is the more affordable option with a 0.25% expense ratio, which is slightly lower than the 0.3% fee charged by the abrdn fund. Over long periods, these small differences in annual costs can influence the total value of a commodity-based position.
Performance & risk comparison
What’s inside
iShares Gold Trust tracks the daily price performance of gold bullion. Its portfolio consists entirely of physical gold. It was launched in 2005. With $58.7 billion in assets under management, it is one of the most liquid vehicles available for gold exposure, and investors often use it to stabilize portfolios during market turbulence.
The abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF operates with a similar structure but focuses exclusively on silver bullion. It is similarly all invested in its metal. This fund was launched in 2009. Silver often experiences wider price swings than gold, making this fund a more aggressive commodity play for some portfolios. This fund is managed by Aberdeen Investments and holds its silver in secure vaults.
For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.
Which looks like the better buy?
Starting in August last year, gold went on an inspired run. The spot price of the metal jumped from around $3,400 an ounce to more than $5,800 by the end of January this year, an all-time high. The price of the yellow metal has retraced back a bit, but it remains around $4,100–there is still a long-term bullish rally going on.
The arguments for buying gold: rising inflation in the U.S., an apparent move worldwide away from the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency, the metal’s historic role as a store of wealth, and rising industrial applications, such as in renewable energy applications.
Silver has also been on a historic rally. In June of 2025, the spot silver price began breaking out of old time peaks around $33 an ounce, running to an all-time high of almost $88 in early February of 2026. Like gold, silver has backtracked a bit, now trading in the low $50 area. But on a long-term chart, silver remains in a bullish rally.
Silver’s argument: it is also a historic store of wealth and is driven by the same inflationary worries as gold. It also has industrial applications, generally considerably greater than gold, especially in renewable energy applications.
Investors seeking exposure to either metal’s long-term rally without the time and expense of buying physical commodities or futures contracts directly can buy either one of these ETFs. But keep in mind that while these are ETFs, holding physical gold through IAU or silver bars through SIVR brings different tax implications. In the U.S., gains from these funds will be treated as collectibles, which typically means a higher tax rate than for stocks for most investors. For some investors holding less than a year, the top tax rate is 37%. If you hold them in a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA, you should sidestep these taxes.
If you have no preference for gold or silver, which is the better fund to invest in? It’s not an easy choice, based on performance history.
IAU has returned 25%, 17%, and 12% annualized to its investors over the past three, five, and ten years.
SIVR has rewarded investors with annualized returns of 29%, 16%, and 11% over the 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year lookback periods.
So silver has done better more recently, while gold has the edge longer-term. The choice here goes to SIVR, the silver ETF, given that the greater industrial uses for silver provide fundamental support, whereas gold tends to be based on more speculative actions by investors.
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Brendan Coffey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Has Silver Replaced Gold as the Better Metal for Investors? iShares Gold Trust vs abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF Tells the Tale was originally published by The Motley Fool
