Best-Performing Precious Metals Funds | Full ETF List
Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium — the four primary investable precious metals — each carry their own ISO 4217 currency code and maintain the highest trading volumes among all precious metals in global markets. Funds tracking these metals come in three main forms: physical ETFs that hold the actual metal in bank vaults, equity funds that invest in mining stocks, and derivative-based ETFs that use futures contracts.
Physical precious metals ETFs stand apart from most other commodity funds. While energy or agricultural ETFs typically rely on futures because storing barrels of oil or bushels of wheat would be impractical, gold and silver ETFs can and often do hold the real metal. Major physical gold funds include SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), iShares Gold Trust (IAU), and SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM), all providing direct exposure to bullion prices without the need to buy, insure, or store metal yourself.
Equity-focused precious metals funds hold shares in mining companies rather than physical metal. Key names in these portfolios include:
- Large-cap gold miners: Newmont (NYSE: NEM), Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD), Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM)
- Silver miners: First Majestic Silver, Pan American Silver, Fresnillo plc, and Hecla Mining — the largest U.S. silver miner
- Platinum group metals: Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum Holdings, Gold Fields Limited
- Royalty & streaming: Franco-Nevada (TSX: FNV), Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX: WPM), Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD)
These companies are typically based in North America, Australia, or South Africa. Beyond investment, the metals themselves serve critical industrial purposes — platinum is a core component of catalytic converters, palladium is used in over 80% of all catalytic converters globally, and silver has applications ranging from electronics to solar cells.
For funds focused on individual metals, see our pages on gold-backed ETFs, silver ETFs, and platinum ETFs.
Regulated brokerThe table below ranks the best-performing precious metals funds with live data, covering physical, equity, and derivative-based ETFs across all four metals.
| Stock | Price | Change % | 52 Week Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| $431.68 | 0.17% | ||
| $88.46 | 0.18% | ||
| $71.60 | 2.10% | ||
| $93.05 | 0.22% | ||
| $44.77 | 0.20% | ||
| $46.86 | 0.19% | ||
| $75.25 | 2.12% | ||
| $45.23 | 0.20% | ||
| $223.29 | 0.68% | ||
| $184.23 | 1.32% | ||
| $46.38 | 0.22% | ||
| $46.31 | 0.28% | ||
| $128.53 | 4.26% | ||
| $61.27 | 0.41% | ||
| $134.98 | 3.45% | ||
| $111.98 | 0.51% | ||
| $183.05 | 0.78% | ||
| $24.68 | 0.32% | ||
| $19.54 | 1.11% | ||
| $17.31 | 0.10% | ||
| $19.92 | 0.30% | ||
| $19.28 | 4.60% | ||
| $5.32 | 6.41% | ||
| $1.84 | 1.07% |
