Toronto-based BlackRock Investments Canada Inc. said Monday it is converting the closed-end fund, BlackRock Silver Bullion Trust (TSX:SVR.UN), into an exchange traded fund (ETF), renamed the iShares Silver Bullion Fund (TSX:SVR).
“We are excited to announce the conversion of our SVR fund to an ETF structure that will provide Canadian investors a more liquid and efficient option for accessing exposure to physical silver bullion,” said Mary Anne Wiley, managing director and head of iShares at BlackRock Canada. “This conversion further broadens and solidifies our iShares ETF commodity fund family providing investors yet another tool to diversify their portfolio”.
Effective November 5, SVR will become the first and only physical silver bullion ETF listed in Canada offering both hedged and non-hedged units providing investors with the option to invest according to their view of the U.S. to Canadian dollar exchange rate.
SVR seeks to replicate the performance of the price of silver bullion, less fees and expenses. To achieve its investment objective, SVR invests in long-term holdings of unencumbered silver bullion in 1,000 troy ounces international bar sizes. SVR does not speculate with regard to short-term changes in silver bullion prices and is not actively managed.
The prospectus disclosure of SVR has been updated to reflect the conversion and certain other related changes. Effective, November 5th, the ticker symbol for the hedged units will change to SVR (formerly SVR.UN) and the ticker for the non-hedged units will remain the same SVR.C.