A simpler way to invest in precious metals.

Many people are attracted to precious metals as investments. For some, the appeal comes from the fact that these assets are often uncorrelated to the typical gyrations of the stock market. Others see a unique opportunity in hard assets like silver and gold because of pricing trends or other dynamics. Whatever your motivation, it's always difficult to get a direct play on precious metals. Even a modest investment in silver or gold can create a logistical nightmare with heavy metal to store and ship around. Exchange-traded funds offer a variety of options, including some rare and lesser-known materials you may not have considered as investment ideas.

Next:SPDR Gold Trust (ticker: GLD) Credit

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SPDR Gold Trust (ticker: GLD)

The biggest of all the precious metals ETFs, GLD was formed in 2004 and boasts net assets of nearly $31 billion. The fund is a pure play on gold, designed to match the daily performance of gold bullion’s price. If you want a liquid and convenient way to trade gold, then this is it. There's no safe or insurance coverage to buy as with physical gold that you have to store in your home, and there's no need to load heavy bars or coins into your car and find someone willing to take them off your hands. For most investors, GLD is an ideal way to play physical gold without the real-world hassle.

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A simpler way to invest in precious metals.

Many people are attracted to precious metals as investments. For some, the appeal comes from the fact that these assets are often uncorrelated to the typical gyrations of the stock market. Others see a unique opportunity in hard assets like silver and gold because of pricing trends or other dynamics. Whatever your motivation, it's always difficult to get a direct play on precious metals. Even a modest investment in silver or gold can create a logistical nightmare with heavy metal to store and ship around. Exchange-traded funds offer a variety of options, including some rare and lesser-known materials you may not have considered as investment ideas.

SPDR Gold Trust (ticker: GLD)

The biggest of all the precious metals ETFs, GLD was formed in 2004 and boasts net assets of nearly $31 billion. The fund is a pure play on gold, designed to match the daily performance of gold bullion’s price. If you want a liquid and convenient way to trade gold, then this is it. There's no safe or insurance coverage to buy as with physical gold that you have to store in your home, and there's no need to load heavy bars or coins into your car and find someone willing to take them off your hands. For most investors, GLD is an ideal way to play physical gold without the real-world hassle.

iShares Silver Trust (SLV)

SLV is a very similar vehicle to GLD but focused on a different precious metal, silver. It's got a long track record, with an inception date of 2006 and boasts nearly $5 billion in total assets – working out to about 9.7 million metric tons of silver held by the trust. Silver is a precious metal but also a bit more utilitarian, with real-world applications including dental alloys, soldering materials and various industrial uses. That provides more baseline demand, even if this precious metal is a bit less expensive per ounce than gold.

Aberdeen Standard Physical Platinum Shares ETF (PPLT)

A lesser known fund but equally compelling option is this ETF, which is benchmarked to physical platinum prices. The precious metal may not be the first that you think of, but it's used in a variety of luxury products such as jewelry and watches. It's also tremendously conductive and has industrial and electronics applications. Platinum is just as hard to trade in physical form as gold bars and coins and more costly than silver on a per ounce basis. If you want to invest in platinum, this ETF may be your most practical way. It's not a huge fund, but does have almost $600 million in assets and has been trading since 2010.

Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL)

This palladium ETF from Aberdeen is more obscure than the PPLT fund. Palladium is similar to platinum in its effective conductivity and use in industrial applications, but it's safe to say that most consumers don't think of the precious metal as a go-to material for luxury goods. Still, it's worth noting that palladium is more expensive right now than even gold, with a market value of more than $1,400 per ounce. And, this ETF is up roughly 45% in the last 12 months – so this precious metal can clearly move even higher in value.

iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING)

If you'd prefer to play the precious metals market in an indirect way through the mining companies that extract these materials from the ground, then check out this iShares fund. Its holdings are a focused list of less than 40 miners that are the leading players in the world – including Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD) and Newmont Goldcorp Corp. (NEM). The list is admittedly top-heavy with so few components, but it's worth noting that smaller mining stocks can often come with significantly increased risk thanks to smaller ore deposits and challenges accessing capital to run their operations. RING is only worried about the big boys, which adds a bit of stability.

VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ)

If you believe that gold prices are set to surge, then there's more potential upside in these smaller stocks than in the big miners. Just as in the energy sector, small and lean explorers can spin up their operations faster to capitalize on favorable market prices. And with smaller footprints, those bigger margins quickly add up to a bigger bottom line. GDXJ contains only "junior" miners that perform like this, with roughly 70 components that are $4 billion in market value or less. There is admittedly more risk in smaller gold miners, but also more reward if conditions are right.

VanEck Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX)

A smaller and more strategic precious metals fund from VanEck, REMX focuses on rare earth minerals that you may not have even heard of. We're talking about materials such as lanthanides, scandium and yttrium. Even if you aren't familiar with these metals, the fact that this family is referred to as "rare" in its name is key. Though the metals themselves are unique and have focused applications, such as neodymium, which is used in high-powered magnet technology, the big appeal is they are relatively uncommon – and thus, potentially valuable investments. REMX holds some of the bigger rare earth miners on the planet and is positioned to profit from these dynamics.

How to diversify your portfolio with metals ETFs.

SPDR Gold Trust GLD)iShares Silver Trust (SLV)Aberdeen Standard Physical Platinum Shares ETF (PPLT)Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL)iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING)VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ)VanEck Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (REMX)1 of 10

Jeff Reeves, Contributor

A veteran journalist with extensive capital markets experience, Jeff Reeves began writing for ...  Read more

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