iShares Silver ETF holdings rise to record 6,901 T

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Holdings of the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust, SLV.A rose to a record 6,901.41 tonnes on Sept. 25, according to the trust's website seen on Monday.

The trust's holdings have climbed nearly 7 percent since the beginning of September as buyers took advantage of lower prices to increase their holdings of the metal.

Spot silver XAG= was quoted at $12.91/12.99 an ounce at 1218 GMT, around 5 percent below the level it hit a month ago.

"Physically backed ETFs are very popular right now because there is a sense that they are more of a tangible asset and less exposed to counterparty risk," said Stephen Briggs, commodity strategist at RBS Global Banking & Markets.

Briggs said the resilience of silver ETF holdings over the summer months, when platinum and some gold ETFs were seeing outflows, suggested a different type of investor was buying silver.

"One must conclude that the holders of the silver ETFs tend to be more dominated by the retail investor than is the case for (holders of gold and platinum ETFs)," he said.

"Partly that is because silver isn't as expensive, so it is slightly more accessible."

ETF Securities reported on Monday that the holdings of its silver-backed exchange-traded commodity (PHAG.L) also rose last week, to 12.089 million ounces.

(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Karen Foster)