Silver funds: up 48% in a year, still 40% off the high

Two true statements about the same fund

HDFC Silver ETF Fund of Fund returned 47.99% over the year to 1 October 2026. It is also 41.31% below its highest NAV of the past 52 weeks, and its return for the calendar year so far is −3.56%.

None of that is a contradiction. A one-year return is measured from a single date a year ago, and silver was cheap then. The NAV rose a long way, peaked earlier this year, and fell hard. The fund is still far above where it was in October 2025 and far below where it stood at the top.

The figures here are for each fund's Direct plan, Growth option, computed from daily NAVs, and cover the 12 silver-only ETF fund of funds with at least a year of history. Gold-and-silver blends are left out.

The numbers, fund by fund

Nine of the 12. The other three (Aditya Birla Sun Life, DSP and Zerodha) are inside the same one-year range; Aditya Birla Sun Life's year to date, −4.29%, is the lowest of all 12.

Across all 12, one-year returns span just 4.2 percentage points, and the gap to the 52-week high spans 2.8 points. These funds hold the same thing, so they move together. Where they differ is mostly cost and timing: direct expense ratios run from 0.14% (Axis) and 0.18% (Groww) to 0.22% (Nippon India) and 0.32% (Aditya Birla Sun Life).

What the recent months look like

Every fund is down over one, three and six months, and every fund is up by close to half over twelve. The window you pick decides whether the story is a boom or a slump.

Silver is a much bumpier ride than gold

The seven silver funds old enough for a three-year record show annualised volatility between 37.4% and 41.5% and a worst peak-to-trough fall of 43.5% to 46.1% in that time. Three-year returns are tightly bunched at 42.65% to 43.37% a year.

Put that next to the gold fund of funds: three-year volatility of roughly 21% to 26% and a worst fall of 23% to 26%, covered in gold funds: 24% in a year. Silver has nearly twice the swing. A metal that swings that much more can return more, and as these funds show, it can also give a large part of it back.

The younger funds look even rougher: DSP, Groww and Zerodha show volatility of 52% to 56% on their shorter histories. With so little data those figures are fragile, so treat any fund under three years old with extra caution.

What changed since August

The August post on silver funds was headlined 99% in a year and 37% below the January peak. Today the one-year figure is roughly half of that and the gap to the peak is wider, 39–42%. A one-year return depends on the date a year ago, so as that start date rolls forward into higher prices the figure shrinks even when nothing else changes. The June post described silver as 41% below its January peak, so the funds have spent months in this range.

Reading this carefully

Trailing returns flatter the recent past. A one-year return of 48% after a 40% fall from the high is not a sign of strength or weakness on its own; it tells you where the starting line was.

Concentration is the point of the product. A silver fund of funds is a bet on one metal, with industrial demand and investment demand pulling it in different directions. It is not a substitute for diversified holdings, and many investors use it, if at all, as a small slice.

Costs are low, but a fund of funds still has two layers. The expense ratios above are on top of the silver ETF's own costs.

None of this is a recommendation to buy or sell. For the rupee price path see the gold and silver recap for October and the gold-silver ratio, and use the fund screener to compare any of these funds against others on volatility and drawdown.