Off-the-Beaten-Path Metals ETFs With Big Potential

Key Points

• Gold and silver have surged over the past year, rising 62% and 137% respectively amid a broad metals rally.
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide accessible exposure to precious and industrial metals through spot-price tracking or mining-focused strategies.
• ETFs like GMET, PALL, and PLTM offer targeted opportunities in metals tied to clean energy, including palladium and platinum.

With gold and silver each logging their best year-long performances in several decades for 2025, investors are keenly aware of the price action of metals heading into the new year. Investors may seek exposure to these haven assets via exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which offer multiple access points—including physically backed funds that track the spot price of a metal as well as less direct exposure via funds holding shares of mining companies and others linked to the metals space.

Those seeking a fresh approach to metals ETFs might look to three funds with unique strategies or targets. The funds below go beyond basic gold and silver funds to target companies based on metal applications or to gain exposure to often-overlooked metals like palladium and platinum (both of which have also seen prices skyrocket in the last year).

Broad Geographic Reach to Access Metals Key to the Green Energy Revolution

The VanEck Green Metals ETF NYSEARCA: GMET tracks an index of companies that produce, refine, and process metals key to the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. These include cobalt, copper, lithium, and various rare earth metals. Due to the regional nature of mining of many of these metals, GMET's focus is global—it includes companies across the market cap spectrum and has a broad geographic reach.

Firms based in South Africa represent the largest allocation within GMET's portfolio at nearly 18%, followed by those from China, Australia, and Canada. Still, due to the specific nature of GMET's purview, it has a relatively small basket of just 55 companies, and it can be fairly concentrated in a handful of names. Many of the positions in GMET's basket are not exclusively focused on green metals—its largest holding, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. NYSE: FCX, targets gold and other metals as well as copper. This means investors may be able to benefit from the precious metals rally to some extent via this indirect exposure, although GMET is more specifically aimed at green energy bulls.

In the last year, GMET has risen by more than 81%, giving investors plenty of reason to expect continued demand for these energy transition metals going forward.

Unique Exposure to a Metal Essential to the Automotive and Electronics Industries

Palladium has long been recognized as an essential material for catalytic converters and various electronics, but it is increasingly finding applications in hydrogen fuel cells and even memory storage. The abrdn Physical Palladium Shares ETF NYSEARCA: PALL is one of the few ways investors have to access the spot price of this metal, given that there are no publicly traded pure-play palladium mining firms.

PALL holds bars of palladium in London vaults, with more than 500,000 ounces as of the end of September 2025. With its unique focus, PALL has a somewhat high expense ratio of 0.60%. However, given palladium's rally throughout the last year and PALL's 74% returns over that same period, it's unlikely investors will mind the cost. Still, it's worth noting that targeted palladium investments like this one may leave investors exposed to cyclical industries like the automotive space.

Lowest-Cost Platinum Exposure

The GraniteShares Platinum Trust NYSEARCA: PLTM has an expense ratio of 0.50%, making it the lowest-cost platinum ETF available to investors. Platinum's appeal may lie in its dual role as both a precious metal and one with industrial applications in medical devices, automotive, electronics, and other use cases.

With a price increase of 124% in the last year, platinum has outpaced even gold thanks to its incredible rally. This rapid rise may also be due to platinum's unique properties, as the metal appeals to both investors seeking a defensive alternative during market turbulence and to those optimistic about its growing potential in biomedical research, green energy, and specialized electronics.

Investors should be aware that platinum is heavily region-specific, with the majority of the global supply coming from a short list of countries that includes South Africa and Russia. A squeeze on the platinum supply, shifting geopolitical relations, and other external factors could have an outsized impact on the price of this metal, either to the benefit of PLTM holders or with a negative impact depending upon the circumstances.