Gold ETF's Cost Edge Versus Silver's Momentum

A fee gap that favors gold clarifies the tradeoff between lower-cost stability and silver's higher-price volatility.

Overview

The SPDR Gold Shares fund charges a 0.40% expense ratio while the iShares Silver Trust charges 0.50%, which equals about $1 saved per $1,000 invested each year for holders of the gold ETF.
Both funds are physically backed and store 100% of their respective metals in secure vaults, giving investors metal exposure without the logistics of buying and storing bullion.
GLD was launched in 2004 and SLV in 2006, and both have been in a multi-year bull market that has outpaced the S&P 500's total return over the same period.
Silver tends to show higher historical beta and larger price swings because it serves both as a precious metal and as an industrial input, a difference measured here using five-year monthly-return beta versus the S&P 500.
For long-term investors the choice comes down to priorities: pick GLD for lower fees and steadier behavior or SLV to chase recent momentum with the tradeoff of greater volatility and higher potential short-term gains.