QNB Portfoy Silver Participation ETF

GMSTR is the Borsa Istanbul ticker of QNB Portföy Gümüş Katılım Borsa Yatırım Fonu, managed by QNB Portfoy. The word katilim (participation) in the fund's name indicates that the portfolio is managed in line with interest-free finance principles, making it a participation (Islamic-finance compliant) fund. It is not a company share but an exchange-traded fund (ETF) set up to track the price of silver.

The fund's portfolio consists of physical silver with a fineness of nine hundred and ninety-nine parts per thousand, traded on Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Precious Stones Market; buying GMSTR therefore means investing indirectly in physical silver without the hassle of storage. Fund units can be bought and sold like shares throughout the trading session via authorised brokerage houses, branches of agent banks and internet banking; the price can be followed during the day, and the management fee is lower than that of conventional mutual funds. Because of its participation-compliant structure, no interest-bearing instruments are held in the portfolio.

The main factors driving the GMSTR price are the silver price per ounce and the US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate. Because of industrial uses such as solar panels and electronics, silver can be more volatile than gold, and global interest rate expectations and the dollar index also affect the price. The fund's management expense, market maker quotes and any tracking difference against the price of silver per gram are other items to watch. On Lzzo.com, the GMSTR page lets you view the price history on an interactive chart and compare it with other precious metal funds.