Credit: Piqsels
The precious white metal silver has made its strong presence felt in town, quite keeping up with its gold counterpart. And, here’s all you need to know about investing in silver.
Implications & Risks of Investing in Silver
Investing in the white precious metal implies placing money into trading, production, or even outright ownership of the metal. And, it also implies buying bullion in coin or bar form. In the context of the metal’s value, it is quite different as an asset class and is not limited to its consumption uses. Silver also has non-trivial industrial applications, and a lot of its value comes from its status as an investment vehicle. And, in the context of the risks, the silver prices can be volatile. Apart from this, there are often commission expenses and high fees associated with investing in individual silver stocks.
Why Invest?
In comparison to its counterpart – gold, the white precious metal is cheaper. And, an investor can buy more silver for significantly less money. Metal is also generally preferred for investment during market instability. And, at the beginning of a downturn during its volatility, investors often move their money into precious metals.
Physical Metal: Investing in physical metal is one clear method. Bullion silver is available in the form of coins and bars in various sizes and formats.
Silver Bullion: As already mentioned investing in bullion is quite simple as the asset can be sold at any time for market price and without a dealer commission. The responsibility of insurance, storage, and logistics lies with you. And, there would also be no third-party involvement.
Silver ETFs: ETFs are traded on a stock exchange and are an effective substitute to owning bullion directly. A silver ETF usually tracks the market price of the silver and is often built around a specific quantity of silver or a group of bullion assets.
Silver Futures and Options: Another way to invest is through commodities, futures and options contracts, which allow investment in the movement of the white precious metals market. The profit comes out of how the value of silver changes and not from the market value.
Silver Production Stocks and Funds: Finally, investors can also think of investing in the silver market via stocks and mutual funds. They are quite reliable and less volatile than pure silver. However, they are subject to business-related liabilities.
In conclusion, silver can be a strong addition to any portfolio. And, like most diversified assets, silver (in moderation) can be a good portfolio.