Silver prices soar to new highs! How can Taiwanese retail investors get on board through silver ETFs? A quick guide to 7 popular options

Why Did Silver Prices Soar Sky-High?

The recent surge in silver investment is far from unfounded. On December 23, 2025, the London spot silver price broke through $70 per ounce in one go, later hitting a historic record of $83.645/oz. To understand how fierce this rally has been: silver prices have already surged over 140% this year, far outpacing gold’s 80% increase and significantly surpassing the tech-heavy Nasdaq index’s roughly 120%.

Several factors have driven this rally—expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts boosting commodity demand, ongoing tight global silver supply, and the U.S. officially listing silver as a critical mineral—all fueling the upward momentum. However, good times didn’t last long. To stabilize the market, CME raised silver futures margin requirements twice in late December. The latest adjustment (effective December 29) caught investors off guard—the initial margin for March 2026 contracts jumped from $22,000 to $25,000, a 25% single-step increase. This intervention indeed cooled the silver frenzy, with international silver prices falling back to the $70-75 range, but on the same day, there was an intraday flash crash of over 11%, causing heavy losses for many investors.

How to Invest in Silver? Why Are Silver ETFs So Popular?

For retail investors, there are mainly four ways to participate in silver markets: physical silver bars, futures contracts, mining stocks, and silver ETFs.

Physical silver bars sound “solid,” but practical operation is complicated. Storage requires renting safes or paying storage fees (annual costs of 1-5%), plus worries about theft or oxidation; buying and selling involves finding reputable dealers and paying for purity testing, with price spreads often reaching 5-6%, and liquidity is poor. Although silver prices have risen 103% in 2025, after deducting costs, the net return on physical silver bars tops out at around 95-100%.

Futures contracts offer the highest return potential—last year, silver rose 103%, and with 2x leverage, theoretically, you could earn over 200%. But the risks are also highest. The flash crash on December 29 is a textbook example: leverage amplifies losses, and a wrong directional bet could wipe out your principal. You must constantly monitor the market and manage positions, making it unsuitable for working professionals.

As for silver mining stocks, they theoretically benefit from silver price increases (up 142% last year), but you’re not just investing in silver—there are company operational risks, government regulations, cost fluctuations, and other factors, making their volatility even more ferocious than silver prices themselves.

In contrast, silver ETFs are attractive because they are “simple and won’t wipe out your pants.” They trade on exchanges like stocks, can be bought and sold anytime, require no storage or insurance, and have much higher liquidity than physical silver. Most importantly, their prices are directly linked to silver prices—you don’t need to analyze company financials or manage futures positions, making them accessible even for beginners.

How to Buy Silver ETFs? Understand 7 Key Funds

The core mechanism of silver ETFs is straightforward: the fund holds physical silver or silver futures, aiming to track silver price movements. If silver rises 5%, the ETF also rises 5% (minus management fees); vice versa.

Currently, the most well-known silver ETFs globally include:

SLV is the industry leader, launched as early as 2006, mainly holding physical silver. JPMorgan Chase safekeeps the silver, managed passively—rarely buying or selling, only selling a small portion at year-end to cover operational costs. Its large scale results in minimal tracking error, suitable for conservative investors wanting steady silver price exposure.

AGQ is for aggressive traders. It uses futures and derivatives to achieve 2x leverage, aiming to double the daily Bloomberg Silver Index’s returns. Simply put, if silver rises 10%, AGQ aims to rise 20%; if silver falls 10%, it falls 20%. But it’s not suitable for long-term holding—compound effects and rollover costs will erode profits over time, making it a short-term trading tool.

PSLV is somewhat special. Unlike traditional ETFs, it is a closed-end fund with a fixed number of units. Its market price can deviate from net asset value (NAV), often trading at a premium or discount. Its advantage is that you can redeem physical silver or cash from the fund, and it is the largest silver-themed closed-end fund, managing about $12 billion.

SLVP tracks major global silver miners. With a fee of only 0.39%, it seems cheap, but its historical performance is more volatile than direct silver exposure, with wider bid-ask spreads and tracking errors, making it less attractive.

For Taiwanese investors, the local choice is 期元大道瓊白 (Code 00738U), listed since 2018, tracking the Dow Jones Silver Excess Return Index via COMEX silver futures. Management fee is 1%, and it’s rated as a “high volatility” product with a relatively high risk level.

How to Buy? Discretionary Trust vs. Overseas Brokers—Pros and Cons

To get into silver investment, Taiwanese retail investors mainly have two routes:

Route 1: Discretionary Trust (via domestic brokers)

This is the most common method among Taiwanese investors. Opening an account with domestic brokers like Fubon, Cathay, Yuanta, or Mega International allows you to buy US-listed silver ETFs directly—no need to exchange USD, no language barrier, funds stay in Taiwan, and regulation is overseen by the Financial Supervisory Commission. The steps are simple: open an account → choose TWD or foreign currency settlement → search for the ETF code (SLV, AGQ, etc.) → place an order. Many brokers even support regular fixed investments, suitable for systematic investing.

The downside is higher transaction fees (often several times those of overseas brokers), and limited ETF options.

Route 2: Opening an overseas broker account

Lower costs, more choices. Open an account online with overseas brokers (like Interactive Brokers), prepare passport, ID, proof of address, bank info, and transfer TWD to USD to fund the account. You can trade global ETFs with low or no commissions, fast execution, and advanced tools.

The trade-off is that some brokers have English interfaces, you must handle US dividend withholding taxes (30% withholding on US ETF dividends), and file tax refunds yourself. Cross-border fund transfers and inheritance issues are more complex without Taiwan legal protections.

Do You Pay Taxes When Buying Silver ETFs?

Buying Taiwan-listed silver ETFs is simplest. Treated like stocks, exempt from tax when buying; only 0.1% tax on selling.

Buying overseas silver ETFs involves foreign income. Your gains count toward overseas income thresholds—if total overseas income is below NT$1 million annually, it’s exempt from minimum tax; above that, it’s included in your basic income. After deducting NT$7.5 million exemption, the excess is taxed at 20%. Since most silver ETFs are commodity-based and pay little or no dividends, tax on distributions is less of a concern; focus is mainly on capital gains tax planning.

Risks: Don’t Underestimate Silver’s Temperament

Silver prices are far more volatile than gold or stocks—although up 140% in 2025, history shows sharp corrections are common. The December 29 intraday flash crash (over 11%) is a vivid example, causing heavy losses for many leveraged ETF holders that day.

Tracking errors exist. Futures-based ETFs suffer rollover costs, often underperform the spot silver price over the long term; physical silver ETFs are more accurate but incur annual fees of 0.4-0.5%, which gradually eat into returns.

Overseas ETFs also carry currency risk. Silver prices are influenced by geopolitical events, industrial demand (solar, electronics), and central bank policies, leading to often unexpected swings.

Final Advice

Silver ETFs are indeed the most convenient way to participate in silver markets—avoiding physical storage hassles, offering flexible trading, and suitable for diversified asset allocation. But remember, silver is highly volatile, easily affected by market sentiment and industrial demand. Different silver ETFs vary significantly in fees, tracking methods, and leverage use.

Diversify your holdings, avoid putting all your eggs in one basket, and regularly review market changes and your positions. If your risk tolerance is limited, start with lower-volatility options like SLV or PSLV, then consider leveraged products like AGQ once familiar. Silver can be a good asset allocation partner, but only if you understand the risks and operate cautiously.