“You can only pull so much gold out of the ground,” Kevin DeMeritt says. “Even with new technology, we’re having to go deeper and deeper inside the Earth to go get it; that technology is just [adjusting for not] having the gold closer to the surface.”

Adding further pressure, in recent years, mounting interest in physical precious metal assets from both investors and the industrial sector has placed more stress on the current supply.

Central banks, for instance, snatched up gold at an unprecedented rate in 2022 — a year when they truly “entered the market,” Kevin DeMeritt says.

While more precious metal resources can’t physically be created, recycling is one way the amount of available assets can be augmented.

In the recycling process, refineries meltdown items, such as jewellery or coins, or chemically separate them from their alloys.

Efforts to repurpose precious metal assets are ongoing — silver recycling activity, for instance, increased for the third year in a row in 2022, growing 3% during the year, according to the Silver Institute.

Recycling, though, doesn’t appear to be on the verge of drastically increasing silver and other metal reserves. Even with the overall increase last year, certain types of silver recycling only experienced moderate gains, such as jewellery and silverware recycling. 

According to one report, approximately $10 billion worth of gold, platinum, and other precious metals are thrown away every year.

More could likely be done to recycle silver and other precious metal assets. As a result, the demand for gold, silver, and other assets — along with their prices — may remain considerable.

“Put an increased demand on a fixed supply, the price typically goes up,” Kevin DeMeritt says. “It's Economics 101. So I think you're going to continue to see, over the next five or six years, that demand will continue to increase for precious metals.”

Numerous Nations Are Gravitating Toward Gold

Previously, several countries had heartily invested in U.S. Treasurys and other securities; as Lear Capital mentioned in an October 2022 update, though, some have begun stockpiling gold. 

Amid Federal Reserve-driven rate cuts in the U.S. that have affected costs for external investors, S&P Global reported in February that the amount of Treasury securities owned by Japan — reportedly the largest foreign U.S. Treasury securities holder — had dropped 18.5% between November 2021 and November 2022.

U.S. debt holdings in China, another top Treasury securities holder, fell below $1 trillion for the first time in more than a decade in 2022. China’s gold purchasing, however, was so robust that, along with Turkey, it helped drive a 152% increase in central bank-related demand for gold last year, according to the World Gold Council.

“China sold off U.S. Treasurys,” Kevin DeMeritt says. “They’ve been replacing it with gold. Russia has eliminated all of their reserves of U.S. Treasurys — and what did they replace it with? Gold.”

Central banks, in 2022, ultimately purchased a quarter of all the mining supply, DeMeritt says.

“[That] is a huge jump from [their previous activity],” he says. “We have not seen this kind of buying from central banks for 50 years.”

In addition, the gold they snapped up isn’t likely to make its way back to the market soon, according to DeMeritt — who says central banks tend to hold on to what they obtain for 10 to 20 years at a time.

“They’re not speculators; they’re not day traders,” the Lear Capital founder says. “That metal is gone, and you’re not talking about small amounts here. If this continues, as we start to see more financial instabilities happen around the country, and probably the world, that demand from central banks is going to intensify — along with demand from institutional and individual investors.”

With a hearty interest from central banks, gold prices reached notable levels in 2022. In March, U.S. News & World Report reported that gold prices topped $2,000, their highest level in more than a year. Gold prices also exceeded $2,000 per troy ounce during the first week in May, at one point trading just about 25 cents below the all-time high, according to Markets Insider.

Enhancing Available Asset Reserves Can Be Difficult

In 2022, several scenarios impacted production capabilities in countries that supply significant amounts of precious metal resources.

In South Africa — which, with Russia, proves a large portion of the world’s platinum — the mining industry experienced transport issues and adverse weather that threatened production, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit report. Total mine output declined by 7%.

Metals are Russia’s second biggest export, according to a University of Florida analysis. However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. placed restrictions on metal imports from Russia, and mine-related platinum production in the country declined in 2022. The mining output of the precious metal had also declined for three years prior.

“Russia [has] a fairly decently sized mining supply of precious metals,” Kevin DeMeritt says. “There’s an impact from the supply.”

Coveted by investors, due to its perception as a hedge against inflation, and performing a key role in industrial and clean energy processes, silver has seen considerable interest in recent years.

However, despite a nearly 6% rise in silver mining in 2021, in 2022, production of the precious metal declined, affected by issues in some of the top-producing countries, including decreased overall output in China and mine suspensions and social unrest in Peru.

“Silver has become a highly in-demand asset,” Kevin DeMeritt says. “Yet the available supply hasn’t vastly increased.” 

Consecutive shortages occurred in 2021 and 2022, according to mining.com — which suggested last year’s deficit may ultimately prove to be the most significant on record. The consistent demand for silver is also expected to result in additional supply shortfalls within the next five years.

When precious metals are hard to obtain, their value can increase. With high demand and lower production, silver prices, for instance, ended higher in 2022 than at the start, according to Lear Capital data.

However, the idea of making investments can be quite daunting if you've never done it before but it is important to educate yourselves on the matter. "If you take a little time to learn about trading stocks in college, you can become financially independent much earlier than otherwise.", says PapersOwl editor, John Russel, in his research paper on the matter of individual stocks. So, if you're a college student or even a graduate and you are unaware of terms like an investment account, a retirement account, and a brokerage account, don't worry. Our simple guide will help you start investing without having to worry too much. 

A Little Money Is Enough

When you think about an investment, you might think that you need to have hundreds of dollars to invest in a stock or other assets. While more capital will help you generate larger amounts, you don't need too much for investing as a college student as you can begin doing it even with just $5 a month. All you need to know is which way you want to go when it comes to using an online broker, a robo-adviser, or a micro-investing app.

Easy Ways To Invest

1. Online Brokers

In very simple terms, such a broker is the web-based platform of financial companies that you can utilise to put money in mutual funds, bonds, and more. You can manage your portfolio via this platform and get all the information you need to handle your investments. 

2. Robo-Adviser

If you want a more automated process to handle your money, you may want to use a Robo-Adviser. These are apps that utilise various algorithms to find the best options for you based on how much risk you wish to take. Like traditional advisers, these will manage your portfolios for you and charge a small fee to do so. 

3. Micro-Investing Apps

For even more automation, consider using a micro-investing app. Such apps are designed to help you make money while you spend money. They can round off your purchases to the nearest dollar and then send the leftover change to your savings account after a minimum amount is collected. With such options, college-goers can become investors with very little cash. 

What Assets Should You Consider? 

When you want to begin generating wealth from an early time for the betterment of your future, you need to carefully consider which assets you want to put your cash in. You should be aware of the top investment themes in 2022 as well to stay updated on current trends. To keep things simple for students though, here are some of the general options you have that offer various levels of return on your investment.

1. Mutual Funds

This is a very good starting point for any investor as the invested money goes into a pool of capital that is managed by a professional. The manager makes all the decisions regarding how to invest the capital and the people involved don't have to do anything more. 

2. Index Funds

When you put your income in an Index Fund, you are essentially investing in all of a market index's stocks. A little knowledge of the stock market goes a long way with this kind and the overall risk and cost are quite low, making it a great option for young people. 

3. Bonds

If you don't want to worry too much about fees and don't want to work but rather just put your cash somewhere safe and enjoy life, you might want to buy some bonds. When you do this, you're essentially loaning your cash to the government or a company. In return for your loan, you get interest when you get your amount back. These are some of the safest investment options out there for college-goers and graduates but they do pay lower returns than other higher-risk options. 

These are three of the most basic and safe ways for paying your cash to someone and getting started with investing. There are many more things you can also consider though, so be sure to do your research before making a choice. These options include ETFs, Target-Date Funds, Certificates of Deposit, etc. You could also use a traditional IRA or savings account for even more safety. 

Some Crucial Things To Remember

If you have never traded before and want to build strong portfolios, here are some things you should keep in mind:

• Don't wait too long to get started. Even if you can spare $10 a month, invest it. 
• Always keep aside the capital that you need in the short term to meet your expenses. Only invest the extra cash you have. 
• Do some research before you purchase any assets on your own. Brokers can help you put your cash in the right places but if you want to do it yourself, be sure to know what you're doing. 
• Don't put all your cash in one place or one kind of asset. Always diversify so you don't end up losing all your cash one day. 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways to begin investing even as a college-goer with little cash to spare. There are many open sources that you can utilise to educate yourself about different accounts, exchange markets, assets, and more. And if you want to do as little work as possible, you can always get advice from professionals and share your long-term goals with them to allow them to manage your capital in a better way. 

Wise’s new investments feature, called Assets, allows customers to invest in BlackRock’s iShares World Equity Index Fund which tracks a basket of over 1,500 of the globe’s largest public companies. The fund’s holdings include Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet.

Users will also have the option to instantly spend up to 97% of the invested funds in their accounts via a Wise debit card and send money overseas. The idea behind this is that customers can hold their money in stocks but are also able to spend and send the funds in real-time. 

Wise’s CEO and co-founder Kristo Käärmann said: “Holding money in various currencies can be hard to manage efficiently. Assets is seeking to solve that problem, by providing an opportunity for customers to earn a return on their money with us, in a host of different currencies, all in one place.”

Wise explained that it is keeping back 3% of users’ invested funds as a buffer in case of any significant fluctuations in the market and to prevent users’ balances from dropping into negative territory. 

Wise has currently launched Assets personal and business for customers in the United Kingdom but plans to roll the product out to Europe in the future. 

Consider Your Plans

What does retirement look like to you? Do you want to stay in the home that you currently live in and spend a lot of time with your grandchildren? Do you hope to move to a place that has a big population of retirees, like Florida or Arizona? Or maybe, like some American retirees, you hope to move to another country where the cost of living is lower. Maybe you want to go back to school, start that business you never had time for or go mountain climbing. 

The possibilities for retirees are greater than ever before, so don't fence yourself in with thinking about what you are supposed to do. If you don’t yet know exactly how you want retirement to look that is okay too, reading investment books can help you learn how to best save now regardless of how your retirement looks in the future. Knowing what kind of a lifestyle you want will help you with the rest of your planning. Revisit your plans every so often to see if you still envision the same kind of lifestyle or if you need to make some adjustments.

Know Your Assets

Understanding what you have, and its value is also important. For example, if you plan to sell your home and move, you should have a realistic idea of what your house is worth. You may have some assets that you do not realise are valuable. If you no longer need your life insurance policy because your children are adults, you can look into selling the policy for a life settlement. You can learn more about how to leverage those assets for you and review a policyholder's guide to modified endowment contracts.

Max Out Your Retirement Contributions

Whatever your age, you should be contributing as much as you can to a retirement fund and not buying into some common lies we tell ourselves about retirement and saving for it. This is particularly true if you have an employer-sponsored account that includes matching funds. If you are young, the money that you put away now has the potential to grow exponentially and provide you with a substantial amount of savings to retire on. If you are nearer retirement and worried about having enough saved, it might be possible for you to make larger catch-up contributions to your account.

Check Your Social Security

When you are figuring out how much you have for retirement, don't forget about Social Security. You can use a quick calculator at the federal government website to get an idea of what your payments will be. The Social Security Administration also periodically sends this information out to you.  Other things could affect your payment as well. For example, if you are divorced from someone you were married to for more than 10 years and they made substantially more than you, you might be able to draw on their benefits. This does not affect the benefits that your ex-spouse can receive.

UK banks and insurers have shifted thousands of jobs and over £1 trillion in combined assets out of the UK and into European Union hubs due to the impact of Brexit, a new study has confirmed.

According to research from think tank New Financial, more than 440 firms in the UK banking and financial services sector have relocate parts of their business, moved staff or established new EU entities in response to Brexit.

Roughly £900 billion of the relocated assets were moved by banks – equivalent to about 10% of the total assets held by the UK banking system. Insurance firms and asset managers shifted a further £100 billion.

“While this is the most comprehensive analysis yet of the impact of Brexit on the City, we think it is an underestimate: we are only at the end of the beginning of Brexit,” New Financial warned in its report.

The UK exited from the EU on 31 December after finalising a trade deal that did not cover the financial services sector. Without access to the single market and the so-called financial passport, which had allowed UK-based financial services companies to offer their services in Europe, firms have moved assets to EU nations to continue their operations.

The study estimated that between 300 and 500 smaller EU financial firms may open a permanent office in the UK, far lower than earlier forecasts of around 1,000. The study added that, while the UK still holds a £26 billion annual trade surplus n financial services with the EU, this figure may decrease as its dominant position is chipped away.

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In the lead-up to Brexit, EY found that 400 relocations were announced at major financial services firms in London.

What has been happening with the dollar lately? If that question is on your mind, you are not alone. In fact, many traders, investors, economists, politicians, and international finance enthusiasts have been scratching their heads since the last week of March this year. As the first quarter came to a close, there was nearly universal shock at how well the USD had performed, both overall and compared to the dire expectations set out in late 2020. As every forex trader knows, it's easy enough to get an accurate, current read on the strength of the greenback, or any other nationally denominated form of money, by using a strength meter.

Meters offer a clear view of how well a given currency is doing against all its rivals. For instance, you can view the currency strength meter on your trading platform and see how well the yen, euro, USD, or any other currency is doing in comparison to all the others. Another gauge of performance is the DXY, also known as the US-Dollar index. For example, on the DXY, the value of the buck peaked last year at just over 100 in late May and then dropped all the way to 91.7 by 31 December. The daily value rose from 89.9 on 1 January to 93.3 on 31 March, ending the three-month run-up in good shape.

All the Predictions Were Wrong

Nearly every major financial institution and organisation that makes official predictions about the value of the USD was dead wrong for the first quarter of 2021. What happened, and what were the estimates? You didn't have to spend more than a few minutes checking a wealth of financial media sources in late 2020 to learn that the dollar was headed for a terrible first quarter of this year. Then, it turned out that all the Wall Street prognosticators were way off. The safe haven currency stages a comeback of sorts and has been headed upward in value all through the first three months of the year.

Here are some revealing statistics in that last year, due to COVID-19, a contentious presidential election, and several other factors, the greenback took a huge hit for the 12-month period, notching down by almost seven percent based on index values. But in Q1 of this year, the currency moved up by a little more than 3.5%. Overall, in about 12 weeks, almost half of last year's losses were recouped. And that performance marks the buck's best Q1 surge in three years. Since the big run-up, though, the USD has retreated a bit, but it's still looking strong a few weeks into Q2.

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What's Different About 2021?

One thing that can pull down the value of the greenback is a worldwide economic recovery. When that happens, major investors no longer feel as if they need to avoid investing capital into a safe bet like the US dollar. So, when the United States far out performed every other national post-COVID recovery, a huge chunk of that safe keeping money remained parked in USDs.

The published assumptions of banks, other governments, and Wall Street analysts was that the currency would fall by about 3% between January and late March. The first difference is that 2021 is not 2020, and the US beat the betting line. Bottom line, instead of a 3% fall, the world's default denomination rose by 3.5%, which means the guessers were wrong by 7.5% in total. In the world of currency values and major financial institution predictions, being that wrong is akin to missing a football bet by 100 points. It just never happens. But it did happen.

What Happens in Q2, Q3, and Q4?

Many of the large international banks are sticking to their guns and continuing to predict bad times for USD for the remainder of 2021. Many base their expectations on an assumption that non-US nations will finally begin to fully rebound from COVID-induced backsliding. That could mean, so the thinking goes, that the dollar as a safe haven won't be nearly as attractive as it is now.

What to watch? Investors should keep their attention on three things. First, see how countries like China, Japan, Australia, and the UK recover from the pandemic, particularly in terms of manufacturing and durable goods corporate performance. Second, watch the DXY on a daily basis. The 50-day moving average of the index reveals a big-picture view of the USD. Finally, check in with the official national banking blogs to see if their estimates about the near-term future of the US currency changes from week to week.

Finance Monthly hears from Richard Kershaw, partner at Hunters Law LLP, on how changes in markets can impact divorce settlements and whether there may be a chance to reopen them after they have been finalised.

Over the past twelve months, as COVID-19 has raged around the globe, the FTSE 100 index has seen significant volatility, hitting a high of 7156 and a low of 4993. With asset values in a state of flux, a divorce settlement reached shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic may now look significantly unbalanced if the assets retained by one party were heavily invested in a sector badly hit by the crisis. How does the family court deal with this?

The family court places a high value on the finality of divorce settlements to enable both parties to move on, and encourages taking a long-term view. It does, however, allow for the re-opening of settlements in very limited circumstances. There have been attempts to bring market volatility within that framework, with the latest effort, FRB v DCA (No 3) [2020] EWHC 3696 (Fam), relying on the financial consequences of COVID-19.

The couple were both from extremely wealthy families, and the divorce proceedings had been highly acrimonious, focusing on the wife’s concealment of the child’s paternity and the husband’s attempts to minimise his assets. A judgment of 28 February 2020 made an award of £64 million to the wife. At a hearing on 27 March 2020, four days after the UK’s first national lockdown started, the husband stated his preference to settle the award in cash rather than by transferring some of his investments, and volunteered to make the first payment by 30 September 2020.

Just before the first payment was due, the husband applied to re-open the settlement on the basis that his assets were held in countries, or underpinned by businesses, hard hit by the pandemic (his assets included interests in the international hotel sector, commercial property and care homes). His application failed for a number of reasons, including his failure to provide detailed evidence on the alleged decline in value of his interests - the court noted that his interests were diverse and some may have benefitted from the financial consequences of the pandemic. It was also significant that, after the pandemic had already hit, the husband had declined the option of satisfying the award in shares rather than cash, which would have shared the financial risk between the parties, and had instead volunteered the payment schedule.

The family court places a high value on the finality of divorce settlements to enable both parties to move on, and encourages taking a long-term view.

Crucially, the court said it is “essential” to take a “long term” view, as most commentators consider that the world economy will recover within the next couple of years to pre-COVID-19 levels. Therefore, orders will not be re-opened simply due to significant fluctuations in value; market fluctuations are to be expected and go both ways. This reflects the approach taken by the court in the wake of the 2008 financial crash. For example, in Myerson v Myerson (No 2) [2009] EWCA Civ 282, the court refused to reopen a divorce settlement even where the husband’s business interests had declined in value to such an extent that the settlement would give the wife more than 100% of the assets.

Following this judgment, anyone hoping to re-open their divorce settlement due to the financial impact of COVID-19 will need to think very carefully before making an application. Even substantial fluctuations in asset values are unlikely to persuade the court that the settlement should be re-opened. A claim where a general economic recovery would not assist in the particular case - for example where a business has gone bust due to the pandemic - might have a better chance of success, but the claim would still be speculative.

What, then, can be done? For those currently negotiating divorce settlements, careful consideration should be given to the level of risk attached to each asset when dividing the family’s resources. One party may be willing to take on more risk in return for a higher proportion of the overall assets, or the parties may prefer to share both the assets and the risk equally. However, a settlement that does not take risk into account has higher prospects of unfairness.

For those whose settlements have already been finalised, there may be areas of flexibility worth exploring to relieve immediate financial pressure. In respect of the capital settlement, if there are sums still to be paid then it is possible to apply to the court for (or, if possible, negotiate) a delay in payment to ease cashflow concerns. If the settlement required the sale of assets, or the extraction of cash from a business within a certain timeframe, but the current financial climate would make this a poor time for the transaction, then an application to defer it may assist. The court will need to be satisfied that there is a genuine financial need for the delay rather than simply a preference for it.

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Ongoing maintenance for a former spouse or for children is always subject to variation, both up or down, and if the pandemic has significantly decreased the payer’s ability to meet the agreed payments then a prompt application to vary should be made. If the reduction is likely to be temporary the recipient may be open to agreeing a short-term decrease in payments, especially as many people have found their spending levels reduced during lockdown. As ever, any application will need to be supported by detailed evidence.

Managing divorce settlements can be challenging at the best of times, and economic turmoil adds to the challenges. Whilst the court is unlikely to reopen past settlements, in many cases options do exist for mitigating the impact of the crisis.

An independent survey of more than 900 UK-based investors commissioned by broker HYCM has investigated which assets the traders plan to buy or sell in the coming year.

Among its findings, the survey revealed the most popular avenues for UK investors to place their money. 70% of respondents had put their money into cash savings, while 40% invested in stocks and shares and a further 38% invested in property.

The survey also asked investors about their investment plans for the new year. 38% of all respondents said they would be putting more money into their savings accounts, while 27% planned to purchase more stock and 21% planned to invest in property.

Conversely, the survey found that the least popular asset classes among UK investors were cryptocurrencies, forex and classic cars, which were respectively favoured by only 21%, 20% and 19% of respondents. However, 18% planned to invest in cryptocurrency during 2021.

Also noteworthy was investors’ overall optimism in their strategies. Although 39% of respondents said that their finance and investment outlooks were radically changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a full 72% were confident in the way they were managing their portfolios in the current climate, and 53% were confident of being in a stronger position once the pandemic ended.

Giles Coghlan, HYCM’s Chief Currency Analyst, remarked that the findings of the new survey were notably similar to those seen at the beginning of the pandemic.

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“While fiscal and monetary stimulus have been positively received by the market, investors are still treading carefully,” he said. “This is why cash remains king, despite interest rates being at record lows.”

Bitcoin continued its gains on Tuesday, reaching a new record high as a surprise investment from Tesla made the asset’s drift towards the mainstream more convincing.

The cryptocurrency hit a high of more than $48,000 during morning trading before dropping back below the $47,000 mark.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AVATrade, expressed optimism at the apparent bull rally, remarking that it seems like “nothing is going to stop the bitcoin price from touching the $50,000 price level”.

The record gains were observed as Bitcoin has seen a significant rise in attention from mainstream firms – first from PayPal, which moved to adopt Bitcoin as a supported transaction method on its platform last year, and more recently from Tesla, which revealed on Monday that it had invested $1.5 billion in the currency.

Like PayPal, Tesla also said that it planned to accept payments from its customers in the form of Bitcoin.

However, Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency to have seen a surge of investor interest. Dogecoin, the meme currency boosted by Elon Musk as a “joke”, has risen 800% in a matter of days. Bitcoin’s more serious rival, Ethereum, also reached a record high of $1,784.85 on Tuesday morning trading.

While Bitcoin’s jump on Monday was the largest daily rise seen in more than three years, it follows a period of significant growth. The cryptocurrency has more than doubled than value over the past two months as traders have sought out alternative wealth stores.

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The total capitalisation of the cryptoasset market is now an estimated $1.2 trillion, though regulation of the digital-only currencies is still light.

Tesla, the world’s highest-valued automotive company, bought around $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in January and signalled its intent to start accepting the cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

In a securities filing on Monday, Tesla said it had “updated its investment policy” and was looking to invest in “reserve assets” such as gold, digital currencies o gold exchange-traded funds. The company also said that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and could “acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term".

"Moreover, we expect to begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis," Tesla continued.

The news promptly caused the price of Bitcoin to surge 14% to a record high of $43,968 per token.

Tesla’s move into Bitcoin represents a significant milestone in the cryptocurrency’s uptake among businesses. While some financial institutions, including PayPal, have moved to adopt the currency as an accepted form of payment, Tesla is the highest-profile non-financial company to invest heavily in it.

With Tesla’s cash and cash equivalents coming to around $19 billion at the end of 2020, its new Bitcoin investment is also a significant move for the company itself.

The development comes on the back of comments from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who stated that Bitcoin was “on the verge” of becoming more accepted among investors.

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“I was a little slow on the uptake,” he said in a chat on the social media app Clubhouse, adding that he should have bought into Bitcoin eight years ago.

Musk has also recently become one of the principal drivers behind the dogecoin cryptocurrency, with his “joke” comments about the digital token raising its market value by over 800%.

Silver soared as much as 11.2% to $30.03 an ounce during weekend trading, its highest level since February 2013, as a wave of small-time traders turned their attention to commodities.

Silver is only the latest asset to see a surge following the GameStop frenzy, where users in the Reddit community r/WallStreetBets piled into GameStop and other struggling retail businesses that banks and hedge funds had taken out paper bets against.

The commodity first came to the attention of the online group on Thursday when posts began circulating urging investors to buy silver mining stocks and ETFs backed by physical silver bars in another squeeze of short-sellers in the market. Demand for physical silver has more than doubled since then.

With value as both a safe-haven asset and an industrial metal, silver prices have risen by almost 19% since Thursday.

iShares Silver Trust ETf, the largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, saw its silver holdings jump by a record 37 million shares between Thursday and Friday. Each share represents an ounce of silver. Total silver holdings by all major ETFs reached a record 912 million ounces during the week, up from just over 600 million at the same point in 2020.

Silver ranked among the best-performing assets last year, gaining nearly 50%. Analysts speculate that its good fortunes will continue this year as favourable policies in the US boost it further.

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However, while silver prices could test $35 to $38 an ounce in the near term, “once the storm calms, prices will come back to normal levels around $26-$27”, Anand Rathi Shares’ commodities analyst Jigar Trivedi predicted.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has been accused of “greenwashing” its investment activities in a report showing that it continues to hold as much as $85 billion worth of investments in coal companies.

The report, which was published by NGOs Reclaim Finance and Urgewald on Wednesday, revealed that the company’s climate policy contains a loophole allowing it to hold shares in companies that earn less than a quarter of their revenues from coal. As a result, it has retained shares or bonds in many notable coalminers and polluters.

BlackRock still holds investments in BHP, Glencore, RWE, Adani and other companies involved in the fossil fuel industry.

The findings come a year after BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink wrote a letter to clients claiming that sustainability had become the firm’s “new standard for investing.” As part of its new climate policies, it abandoned all of its actively managed investments in companies making more than 25% of their revenues from coal and introduced a range of new ESG fund options for clients to invest in.

However, the campaigners who carried out the latest research are now calling for BlackRock to divest fully from coal, including from companies like Japan’s Sumitomo and Korea’s Kepco that are planning to expand coal production. BlackRock holds $24 billion in assets in such companies.

Lara Cuvelier, a sustainable investment campaigner at Reclaim Finance, said BlackRock should fully distance itself from coal as a “bare minimum” change as global temperatures rise.

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“One year on, it’s hard to see Larry Fink’s sustainability commitment as anything other than greenwashing,” Cuvelier said in a statement. “If he really wants BlackRock to be a climate leader instead of a climate pariah, he needs to start aligning green words with green deeds, and direct BlackRock’s awesome financial power towards a sustainable future.”