3 Precious Metals ETFs to Buy Now

One asset class that has historically proven resilient amid persistently rising prices is commodities. From energy sources to agricultural products to metals, commodities of many different flavors have naturally seen their values rise amid inflationary pressures. As a result, a number of commodity stocks and commodity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been on a pretty profitable run for most of the last 12 months, notes Jeff Reeves, Kiplinger.com.

Investors wanting exposure to gold and silver stocks may find these 3 precious metals ETFs a helpful hedge against inflation.

• SPDR Gold Trust

Assets under management: $55.9 billion

Expenses: 0.40%

One of the most popular commodity investments out there is gold, considering the precious metal is seen as a "store of value" that will hold strong in a rough environment. Additionally, gold has historically been uncorrelated to the stock market.

The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is not just the largest and most popular gold fund out there, but it is also the largest and most popular commodity-backed product on Wall Street. GLD is tied to physical gold bullion prices rather than mining stocks, and gives direct exposure to the precious metal.

It has a long list of competitors on Wall Street, including the nearly $950-million GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR) whose expense structure is less than half of GLD. However, what SPDR Gold Trust offers is a well-established product with a deep pool of liquidity.

If inflationary pressures or stock market volatility persist, this commodity fund could be a smart tactical investment in 2023.

• iShares Silver Trust

Assets under management: $11.0 billion

Expenses: 0.50%

Though slightly smaller, the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is similar in many ways to the SPDR Gold Trust.

SLV is a commodity ETF that is tied to physical silver instead of physical gold. While silver is technically a precious metal, it has more common uses in industrial and commercial applications. These include electrical connections, solar panels, chemical catalysts and more. That means that silver is more tied to general economic activity, which has weighed down silver in the last year or so.

However, this might also make silver an interesting play in 2023. As we potentially near the end of the geopolitical and inflationary disruptions that we've seen over the last year, then we could possibly see a big uptick in demand for silver that could lift this commodity fund.

As with GLD, you'll find some cheaper alternatives out there, including the roughly $1 billion abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF (SIVR). However, SLV is the runaway leader when it comes to trading volume and assets under management.

• abrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF

Assets under management: $1.0 billion

Expenses: 0.60%

Can't decide whether you like gold or silver better? Well, with the abrdn Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares ETF (GLTR) from asset manager Aberdeen, you don't have to decide.

The investment objective of GLTR is to provide a single-stop exposure to physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion in one simple exchange-traded product. It is admittedly weighted more toward gold than anything else at present, with over half of assets in this precious metal and another fifth or so in silver. However, investors who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in physically backed precious metals have to just hold this one position and cover all four bases.

Shares are slightly higher on the year thanks to this diversified approach to physical precious metals, and are up nearly 40% over the last five years.

And perhaps best of all, there's no reason to worry about storage at home in a safe or the difficult task of lugging around bars to buy or sell them. GLTR keeps its goods in a secured vault in the U.K. that is inspected twice per year. This makes it easy to buy and sell precious metals with peace of mind and far less hassle.

Editor’s Note: Jeff Reeves covers the equity markets and exchange-traded funds for Kiplinger.com.