How to invest in Bullion Market
Precious metals Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are the cheapest and
most convenient way to buy and sell diamond,
gold and silver.
When
it comes to buying physical gold and silver, there are a range of
options you can take.
But
if you take that route, you also expose yourself to counterparty risk. In short, when you buy an
ETF, the metal you buy is not held by the ETF provider. It’s held by a large
global bank, like HSBC or Morgan Stanley.
If
the bank goes bust, your gold and silver could be gone too. Besides,
you can never really be sure they’re holding the gold they claim.
Why do you need to worry about this?
Buying physical gold or silver is more expensive than investing in an ETF. gold buyers charge a premium. Then you’ve got the cost of delivery, storage and insurance. And when you sell, your dealer will take a cut.
Buying physical gold or silver is more expensive than investing in an ETF. gold buyers charge a premium. Then you’ve got the cost of delivery, storage and insurance. And when you sell, your dealer will take a cut.
On
top of that, buying and sell bullions Sydney
isn’t ‘risk free’.
The
risk, of course, is that gold and silver prices fall through the floor and you
take a loss on an asset you can’t always buy and sell easily. Please note: I
don’t expect this to happen, but it’s a risk to be aware of.
So
what sort of gold do you buy? You have a choice of coins, nuggets or bars…
Coins
are elaborate, and more expensive to make than bars or nuggets – so they cost
more to buy per ounce. Some may be rare collectables, but this ‘added value’
can be in the eye of the beholder. The same can be said with antique gold and
silver coins. This is a specialised market and is best avoided unless you
really know your stuff.
Nuggets
are beautiful. But the price can vary a great deal depending on purity and
other factors. They aren’t as straightforward to buy and sell as bullion bars
or coins.
If
you’re after a long-term investment, in my opinion it’s best to go with bars.
With silver, one kilo bars are a convenient
size and are worth about A$1000 today.
An
ounce of gold is
surprisingly small – nearly A$1700 of value squeezed into just one centimetre
squared. You can get two-ounce, five-ounce and 10-ounce bars. And a kilo bar of
gold will set you back about A$53,900. Each bar is iPhone sized –
truly portable wealth.
Just
remember that with precious metals, the ounces are ‘troy ounces’, which are
equal to 31.1 g.
