Individual investors have been aggressively purchasing silver, making it the most crowded commodity trade, according to a Vanda Research report. Over the past 30 days, retail investors have acquired $921.8 million in silver-backed exchange-traded funds like the iShares Silver Trust (SLV.P). iShares Silver Trust is an exchange-traded fund that seeks to reflect the performance of the price of silver. Wednesday saw $69.2 million in retail inflows into the iShares ETF, the largest daily retail buying since 2021.
The iShares ETF has risen 31.3% year-to-date and 210.9% over the past 12 months. Silver prices reached $91.90 an ounce on Thursday afternoon, up from $72.62 at the start of the year, although below Wednesday’s and Thursday’s intraday record of over $93, according to LSEG data. Meanwhile, the MSCI ACWI Select Silver Miners Investable Index, tracking mining companies significantly exposed to silver price changes, has surged approximately 225% in the last 12 months.
Vanda Research distinguishes the current rally from the 2021 meme stock surge. Vanda states, “This isn’t just a meme-stock spike; we are witnessing a structural accumulation that has now surpassed the heights of the 2021 ‘Silver Spike’.” The report suggests silver should be treated as a core macro trading asset, highlighting retail investors’ significant involvement in the ProShares UltraShort Silver ETF (ZSL.P). ProShares UltraShort Silver ETF is an inverse leveraged fund designed to deliver twice the inverse of the daily performance of silver.
However, some analysts remain cautious. Kathy Kriskey, head of alternatives ETF strategy at Invesco, noted, “We waited 45 years for silver to break above $50 an ounce and now we’ve seen it zoom past $80 in less than three months.”
