Gold captures most of the attention as the safe-haven investment during periods of political or financial instability.
With the metal trading over $1,400 in early March, though, it's worth asking if we may be seeing a price bubble or at least a significant reduction in the metal's risk-return profile going forward.
For clients who want some metals exposure but aren't comfortable with gold at these levels, ETFs that invest in industrial metals such as palladium and platinum merit a look.
These metals benefit from both economic recovery and the resulting improved demand, but they also have a degree of the safe-haven/investment appeal.
"They are used in various industrial applications, so there's a real world supply and demand for them," said Michael Johnston, a senior analyst with ETF Database (etfdb.com), in an interview.
"I think that connection between the industrial sector and, then, in particular, the demand for emerging markets has helped all of [them] perform pretty well lately," he explained
Johnston cites ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT) and ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (PALL), both from ETF Securities, as two ETFs worth consideration. These funds invest in the physical metal, similar to SPDR Gold Shares (GLD).
