Silver fell 18.32% in the first half of 2026, from US$71.99 to US$58.80 an ounce, and the ride inside that period was far rougher. The iShares Silver Trust's net asset value per share peaked at US$107.35 on 29 January 2026 and touched US$51.88 on 25 June, a fall of about 52% in five months. Investors choosing a silver fund are choosing exposure to one of the most volatile mainstream commodities.
A physically backed silver fund owns silver bullion held by a custodian and issues units whose value tracks the metal, less the fund's costs. The largest, SLV, held 498,327,884 ounces of silver and US$26.85 billion in net assets on 23 October 2026. SIVR and PSLV hold the same metal through different legal structures.
Structure is the bigger difference. SLV and SIVR are US exchange-traded trusts whose share prices are kept close to the value of their silver by large institutions that create and redeem shares. PSLV is a Canadian closed-end trust with no such daily mechanism, and on 23 October 2026 its units traded at a 5.42% discount to their net asset value.
The three funds suit different priorities: SLV for trading depth, SIVR for the lowest annual fee of the three, and PSLV for investors who value Canadian custody and a right to redeem units for physical silver, and who accept that its market price can drift away from its asset value.
This guide explains how SLV, SIVR and PSLV are built, what their sponsor fee, TER and MER figures actually measure, how a closed-end discount can outweigh a fee difference, why silver moves more than gold, what each costs to hold, the tax and estate questions for Singapore investors, and which fund fits which goal.
SLV vs SIVR vs PSLV at a glance
All three funds own physical silver, and all three trade on NYSE Arca in US dollars. They differ in legal form, cost and how closely their market price follows the silver they hold.
How SLV, SIVR and PSLV hold silver and how each keeps its price near the value of its metal
| Feature | SLV | SIVR | PSLV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | iShares Silver Trust | abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF | Sprott Physical Silver Trust |
| Legal vehicle | US grantor trust, exchange-traded | US grantor trust, exchange-traded | Closed-end trust under Ontario law |
| Annual cost | 0.50% sponsor fee | 0.30% sponsor fee after a voluntary waiver (stated rate 0.45%) | 0.52% MER, period ended 30 Jun 2026 |
| Silver custodian | JPMorgan Chase Bank, London Branch | ICBC Standard Bank Plc | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Size | US$26.85 billion (23 Oct 2026) | US$3.95 billion (30 Jun 2026) | 207,194,980 oz of silver (23 Oct 2026) |
| What keeps price near NAV | Authorised participants create and redeem 50,000-share baskets | Authorised participants create and redeem 50,000-share baskets | No daily creation and redemption; units can trade at a premium or discount |
| Physical redemption for individuals | No | No | Monthly, subject to a minimum redemption amount |
| Listings | NYSE Arca | NYSE Arca | NYSE Arca and TSX |
Source: iShares SLV, iShares Silver Trust 10-Q, abrdn Silver ETF Trust 10-Q, Sprott PSLV (as of 25 October 2026)
Sponsor fee, TER and MER: three ways to quote a cost
The headline fee figures for these funds are measured differently. A sponsor fee is the annual rate the trust pays its sponsor, accrued daily on net asset value; for SLV and SIVR it is the main ongoing charge. A total expense ratio (TER) is the broader term many data sites use for the same annual cost. A management expense ratio (MER) is the Canadian measure of all expenses actually charged over a period, and PSLV's 0.52% figure includes applicable Canadian taxes and excludes commissions.
SIVR adds a further wrinkle. Its sponsor fee accrues at an annualised rate of 0.45%, which the sponsor has voluntarily waived down to 0.30% since the fund started. A voluntary waiver can in principle change, so the stated rate is worth knowing.
Trading costs come on top of these fund-level figures: brokerage, the bid-ask spread and the cost of converting Singapore dollars into US dollars.
SLV: iShares Silver Trust
SLV is the oldest and largest of the three, with a fund launch date of 21 April 2006. It charges a 0.50% sponsor fee, and its silver is held by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London Branch. iShares publishes a bar list of the silver it holds.
Shares are created and redeemed only in blocks of 50,000 by authorised participants, which are registered broker-dealers with an agreement with the trust. Individual investors cannot buy or redeem shares directly with the trust, so you buy and sell on the exchange and cannot take delivery of silver. The trust is not registered as an investment company under the US Investment Company Act of 1940.
SLV's size is its main advantage. With more than US$26 billion in assets, it is by far the most widely held of the three. Its fee, though, is the higher of the two US trusts.
SIVR: abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF
SIVR is issued by the abrdn Silver ETF Trust, sponsored by abrdn ETFs Sponsor LLC. Since 23 May 2024, its silver has been held by ICBC Standard Bank Plc under allocated and unallocated account agreements. At 30 June 2026, it held 67,209,074.2 ounces of silver and about US$3.95 billion in net assets.
Its mechanics mirror SLV's. Authorised participants create and redeem shares in blocks of 50,000 in exchange for silver, individual investors trade on the exchange, and the trust is a grantor trust outside the Investment Company Act.
The difference is cost. At an effective 0.30%, SIVR charges 0.20 percentage points a year less than SLV for the same kind of holding. For a buy-and-hold investor, that gap compounds every year the position is held; for a frequent trader, SLV's larger market may matter more.
PSLV: Sprott Physical Silver Trust
PSLV began on 27 October 2010 and is established under the laws of Ontario. It holds unencumbered and fully allocated London Good Delivery silver bars in the custody of the Royal Canadian Mint, a federal Crown corporation, and trades in US dollars on NYSE Arca and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
How a closed-end trust differs
An exchange-traded trust like SLV or SIVR has a built-in way to pull its price back towards net asset value (NAV): if shares trade above the value of the silver, authorised participants create new ones, and if they trade below, they redeem shares for silver. A closed-end trust has a fixed pool of units at any moment. New units are issued through offerings, including an at-the-market equity programme Sprott updated in January 2026, and investors can redeem for physical silver monthly, but only above a minimum redemption amount set in the prospectus.
Without a daily creation and redemption channel, PSLV's market price can sit away from its NAV for long periods. Since inception, the premium or discount has ranged from +33.91% to −10.34% (as of 30 September 2026). PSLV traded at a discount on 250 trading days in 2025 and had no days at a premium that year or in the first three quarters of 2026.
The discount can outweigh a fee difference
On 23 October 2026, PSLV's NAV was US$18.37 per unit and its market price US$17.37, a discount of 5.42%. A discount means you buy silver for less than its value, but your return then depends on two things: the silver price and what happens to the discount.
Take a simpler example: a unit with NAV of US$20 bought at US$19, a 5% discount. If silver is unchanged a year later, your return ranges from +5.26% to −5.26% depending only on the discount.
| Silver price a year later | Discount closes to 0% | Discount stays at 5% | Discount widens to 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver up 10% (NAV US$22) | US$22.00, +15.79% | US$20.90, +10.00% | US$19.80, +4.21% |
| Silver unchanged (NAV US$20) | US$20.00, +5.26% | US$19.00, 0.00% | US$18.00, −5.26% |
| Silver down 10% (NAV US$18) | US$18.00, −5.26% | US$17.10, −10.00% | US$16.20, −14.74% |
Example only. Assumes a purchase at US$19 against a NAV of US$20, a one-year holding and no fees or trading costs.
A 5-point move in the discount is worth more than 20 years of the 0.22-point annual fee gap between PSLV and SIVR. Buying at a discount can work in your favour if it narrows, but a discount that has persisted through 2025 and 2026 can just as easily persist or widen when you come to sell.
PSLV discount example showing returns when the discount closes, stays or widens
Why silver swings more than gold
Silver is both a precious metal and an industrial input, so its price responds to investor demand and to manufacturing cycles at the same time. Industrial demand is forecast to fall 2% in 2026 to a four-year low of around 650 million ounces, as solar panel makers use less silver per panel or switch materials, while physical investment demand is forecast to rise 20% to 227 million ounces. The market is expected to run a sixth straight annual deficit, of 67 million ounces.
That mix makes silver more cyclical. Over the first half of 2026, silver fell 18.32% while gold fell about 6.5%. From peak to trough within the period, SLV's NAV per share fell about 52%, against roughly 26% for the LBMA gold price.
| Six months to 30 June 2026 | Silver | Gold |
|---|---|---|
| Price change | −18.32% | About −6.5% |
| Peak to trough within the period | About −52% (SLV NAV per share) | About −26% (LBMA price) |
Source: iShares Silver Trust 10-Q, SPDR Gold Trust 10-Q (as of 25 October 2026). Gold's start price is the LBMA AM price, as no PM price was set on 31 December 2025.
For a Singapore investor, silver is a satellite holding at most. Its swings are large enough that position size matters more than which of the three funds you pick.
Comparing performance fairly
Performance tables for silver funds can mislead when they mix measures. Three numbers are worth separating:
- The silver price, usually the LBMA Silver Price, which none of the funds can beat before costs.
- NAV return, which is the silver price less the fund's fees and expenses.
- Market price return, which is what you actually earn by buying and selling units on the exchange.
For SLV and SIVR, NAV and market price returns stay close because authorised participants close gaps. For PSLV, they can differ by several percentage points over any period, entirely because the discount changed. Comparing the three funds over matched dates, using market price returns, shows what an investor would actually have earned.
Every physically backed silver fund also sells a little silver over time to pay its fees, so the silver behind each share or unit slowly shrinks, faster in a higher-fee fund.
What each fund costs to hold
Ignoring silver price moves, the fee alone reduces each holding a little every year. On US$10,000, the gap between the cheapest and the dearest fund grows to about US$212 over ten years.
| Fund | Annual cost used | Cost after 1 year | Cost after 5 years | Cost after 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SIVR | 0.30% | US$30 | US$149 | US$296 |
| SLV | 0.50% | US$50 | US$248 | US$489 |
| PSLV | 0.52% | US$52 | US$257 | US$508 |
Example only, based on iShares SLV, abrdn Silver ETF Trust 10-Q and Sprott PSLV (as of 25 October 2026). Assumes US$10,000 invested, a flat silver price and the annual cost applied once a year. PSLV's MER is a past-period figure.
These amounts are small next to silver's price moves, and smaller than PSLV's discount swings. They still compound in one direction only, and for a long holding they are the one cost you control at the outset.
Cumulative fee cost of US$10,000 in SIVR, SLV and PSLV over one, five and ten years
How to buy silver funds from Singapore
SLV, SIVR and PSLV all trade on NYSE Arca, so you need a broker with US market access and a completed US tax form for your account. PSLV's US-dollar line on the TSX is a second route for brokers that offer Canadian markets. Some exchange-traded products are classed as Specified Investment Products, and your broker must carry out a Customer Account Review before you trade listed SIPs; classification is set product by product.
Check the ticker before you buy. Silver mining ETFs hold shares in mining companies, which add operating and equity-market risk to silver price exposure, and leveraged silver products reset daily.
Tax, estate and custody questions
Singapore generally does not tax individuals on gains from the sale of shares and financial instruments held as investments, though trading-style activity can be treated as income. None of the three funds is designed to pay income, so the 30% US withholding on US-source dividends for nonresident aliens does not arise the way it does for share ETFs.
Estate tax is where structure matters. The estate of a nonresident non-citizen must file Form 706-NA if US-situs assets exceed US$60,000. SLV and SIVR are US trusts, while PSLV is a Canadian trust listed in the US, and situs treatment can differ between legal forms. If your holdings are large, get estate-planning advice.
On custody, all three use large, regulated custodians. SLV's silver sits with JPMorgan's London branch, SIVR's with ICBC Standard Bank or a sub-custodian it selects, and PSLV's with the Royal Canadian Mint.
Which silver fund suits which investor?
Each fund wins on a different priority.
| Your priority | Fund that fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest annual fee | SIVR | 0.30% effective sponsor fee, the lowest of the three |
| Deepest trading market | SLV | Largest fund, with more than US$26 billion in assets |
| Canadian custody and physical redemption right | PSLV | Royal Canadian Mint custody; monthly redemption above a minimum |
| Price that tracks NAV closely | SLV or SIVR | Daily creation and redemption by authorised participants |
| Buying silver below its asset value | PSLV, with care | Units have traded at a discount, which can narrow or widen |
Source: iShares SLV, abrdn Silver ETF Trust 10-Q, Sprott PSLV (as of 25 October 2026)
For a long-term Singapore investor buying silver as a small diversifier, the fee and NAV tracking usually decide it, which points to SIVR. Active traders often prefer SLV's liquidity. PSLV makes most sense for investors who specifically want its Canadian structure and accept that the discount adds a second source of gains and losses.
Invest in silver with ETF Explorer
ETF Explorer lets you buy SIVR, abrdn's physically backed silver ETF, from its Silver page and keep a small silver position next to your other ETFs. Each buy or sell order costs US$1 (excluding GST), with nothing added to the fund's own expense ratio, and you can pay with cash or SRS.
Silver prices swing more than gold's, so you could get back less than you put in.
Frequently asked questions
Here are short answers to common questions about choosing between SLV, SIVR and PSLV.
Is PSLV an ETF?
PSLV is a closed-end trust established under Ontario law that trades on exchanges like an ETF. It has no daily creation and redemption by authorised participants, so its market price can trade at a premium or discount to NAV. On 23 October 2026, the discount was 5.42%.
Does SLV own real silver?
Yes. SLV held about 498 million ounces of silver on 23 October 2026, in the custody of JPMorgan Chase Bank's London branch, and iShares publishes a bar list. Individual investors cannot redeem shares for that silver; only authorised participants can, in blocks of 50,000 shares.
Which is cheaper, SLV or SIVR?
SIVR, at an effective 0.30% a year against SLV's 0.50% sponsor fee. SIVR's stated rate is 0.45%, and its sponsor has voluntarily waived it down to 0.30% since the fund began. On US$10,000 with a flat silver price, the gap is about US$193 over ten years.
Why does PSLV trade at a discount?
Closed-end trusts lack the daily arbitrage that keeps exchange-traded trusts near NAV, so supply and demand for the units themselves set the price. PSLV had no trading days at a premium in 2025 or in the first three quarters of 2026. Its monthly physical redemption right has a minimum size, which limits how much it narrows the gap.
Can Singaporeans buy silver ETFs?
Yes, through a broker with access to NYSE Arca, and for PSLV also the TSX. Your broker may run a Customer Account Review if it classes a product as a Specified Investment Product. SIVR is also available through StashAway's ETF Explorer.
Is silver a good hedge like gold?
Silver is more volatile than gold because industrial demand drives a large part of its price. In the first half of 2026, silver fell 18.32% against about 6.5% for gold. Investors who want a steadier precious-metal holding usually start with gold and keep any silver position smaller.
