U.S.-Listed Palladium ETF Coming

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As China and India push forward with plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, platinum and palladium investors should take special notice.

More than half of the supply of palladium and platinum goes into the construction of catalytic converters, which convert harmful gases from auto emissions into less harmful substances. As the rapidly growing markets in China and India begin to develop emissions standards, platinum and palladium will be in high demand.

ETF Securities, a global ETF issuer, has filed to launch a ETFS Palladium Trust. This fund will add to the firm's physically backed ETF lineup in the U.S., which already includes the ETFS Physical Silver Shares(SIVR Quote) fund and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares(SGOL Quote), launched in July and September respectively. The new palladium fund has been tentatively given the symbol "PALL."

PALL will be the first U.S.-listed, physically backed palladium fund. Physically backed gold and silver funds like SPDR Gold Shares(GLD Quote) and the iShares Silver Trust(SLV Quote) have been tremendously popular amongst U.S. investors. During September, GLD attracted more than $2 billion in assets.

Platinum, which has traditionally competed with gold from a price and value perspective, could be the next trend in ETF investing. While the platinum jewelry market is still relatively small, the metal has a number of industrial applications outside of the auto industry. Palladium is one member of the platinum group of metals. Other metals from this family include ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, and iridium. Besides platinum, palladium is the most popular of these.