The SLV silver ETF made headlines in recent weeks. Many young U.S. investors put money in silver through this fund. Here are the biggest institutional investors.
Silver rally
The price of silver has put on a remarkable rally in recent months. Since last December, the price has risen by a good 23 percent.
And after a wild up-and-down ride, the precious metal is up about 6 percent this year, currently at $28 per ounce.
Silver ETF
The silver rally is also driven by capital inflows into the largest silver ETF – the iShares Silver Trust (SLV). We have identified the largest investors in this fund as of the end of December 2021, based on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 13-F reports.
U.S. big banks
The ranking of SLV’s top investors is led by Morgan Stanley. At last count, the U.S. investment bank owned 13.26 million shares worth $325 million. In the fourth quarter, the institution increased its holdings by 17 percent.
Bank of America came in second with 9.2 million shares worth $226 million. Their holdings increased 7 percent from the previous quarter.
Largest SLV investors
Top 10 shareholders, number of shares as of Dec. 31, 2021, and change from previous quarter (source: SEC, compiled by Goldreporter)
| Morgan Stanley | 13.260.146 | +17,47 % |
| Bank of America Corp | 9.231.764 | +7,43 % |
| Jane Street Group, LLC | 6.402.278 | +335,74 % |
| Wells Fargo & Company | 5.994.568 | -4,81 % |
| UBS Group AG | 5.963.538 | -10,25 % |
| Barclays Plc | 5.909.328 | +38,44 % |
| Royal Bank of Canada | 5.417.874 | -1,31 % |
| Deer Park Road Corp | 4.945.600 | +0,00 % |
| Private Advisor Group, LLC | 3.274.541 | +4,49 % |
| BNP Paribas Arbitrage | 3.257.996 | -5,93 % |
Biggest buyer
In contrast, Jane Street Group, a large trading house, moved up to number three. The company is one of the largest market makers on the planet. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Jane Street increased its SLV investment by 335 percent and most recently held 6.4 million shares worth $157 million.
SLV operator BlackRock
As Goldreporter reported on Feb. 15, the corporate subsidiaries of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock have recently sold gold ETF shares and invested in SLV in exchange (BlackRock dumps gold and buys silver). However, with the reported 1.2 million shares, it is only enough for 28th place among the largest shareholders of the fund. BlackRock itself is the operator of this fund.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
