Should advisors be looking for gold alternatives?

investmentnews.com:

Take note financial advisors, all that glitters is not gold.

Silver can shine too sometimes.

The SPDR Gold Trust (Ticker: GLD) is up over 13 percent so far this year and 18.2 percent over the past 6 months thanks to geopolitical worries, central bank buying, dollar destabilization, Indian weddings and whatever else drives the price of the yellow metal. As even the top Wall Street precious metals strategists will attest, it’s not easy to pinpoint the exact reason for price moves in gold. Often, like in religion, it’s a matter of belief.

Yet for all gold’s luster both in jewelry and safety deposit boxes, it’s been silver that has been the more precious of the two metals in recent months.

The iShares Silver Trust ETF (Ticker: SLV) is up just over 15 percent in 2024 and 18.4 percent in the past 6 months.

Christopher Davis, partner at Hudson Value Partners, says he is not currently seeking direct exposure to silver, but through holdings in gold focused royalty companies he does receive some ancillary exposure. 

“All commodities are cyclical, but gold demand can broadly come from central banks, investors, jewelry, and industrial applications,” said Davis. “Gold has thousands of years of history behind it as a store of value, unit of account, and in some corners of the globe is reemerging as a means of exchange. Over longer time periods gold can be competitive with many more elaborate ‘absolute return’ style investments.”

WHAT ABOUT PALLADIUM AND PLATINUM?

Nevertheless, while gold and silver have shined, their even more scarce relatives palladium and platinum have offered up dull performances year-to-date.

The abrdn Physical Palladium Shares ETF (Ticker: PALL) is down just under 7 percent in 2024, while the abrdn Physical