Posted on 05/28/2025 9:03:17 AM PDT by delta7
KEY POINTS -The ultra-wealthy are increasingly moving their gold to Singapore. -A growing sense of unease is driving the surge. -
Wealthy investors are also opting for physical gold bars instead of paper for several reasons.
The ultra-wealthy are increasingly moving their gold offshore as economic and geopolitical uncertainty roils markets — and Singapore is emerging as a favored destination.
Not far from the city-state’s airport sits a six-story facility covered in onyx and fortified by tight security. Tucked behind its steel doors are gold and silver bars amounting to about $1.5 billion.
Known as “The Reserve,” the storage facility features scores of private vaults and a towering storage chamber lined with thousands of safe deposit boxes reaching three stories high.
From the start of the year to April, the precious metals repository has received an 88% increase in orders to store gold and silver in the vault from the same period in 2024, said its founder, Gregor Gregersen. The Reserve, which also sells gold and silver bars, saw sales for precious metals bars skyrocket 200% year on year in that time, data provided by The Reserve showed.
Singapore is viewed as the ‘Geneva of the East’; it has a reputation as a safe jurisdiction with relative political and economic stability. Nicky Shiels MKS PAMP A growing sense of unease is driving the surge, according to industry watchers.
“A lot of very high net worth clients are looking at tariffs, looking at the world changing, looking at the potential of geopolitical instabilities,” Gregersen told CNBC.
“The idea of putting physical metal in a safe jurisdiction like Singapore with parties they can trust is becoming a big trend nowadays,” he said, adding that 90% of the new orders are coming from outside of Singapore.
The rise of gold has been meteoric in recent months, with bullion prices notching consecutive record highs. That was fueled in part by its safe haven appeal in the face of the volatility brought about by U.S.-China trade tensions and a mass U.S. asset sell-off in April.
Though gold prices recently cooled after investors’ risk appetites improved following a thaw in trade tensions between the two economic superpowers, some market watchers still believe they could climb to as high as $5,000 per ounce next year. Spot gold prices are currently trading at $3,346.32 per ounce, near historic levels.
Physical bars versus paper
The wealthy are also increasingly opting for physical gold bars instead of paper because they do not want as much counterparty and geopolitical risks, Gregersen said. While storing and owning physical gold isn’t completely free of price exposure, it limits exposure to certain risks that paper gold carries.
For example, counterparty risks are lower if one owns the asset directly. The Silicon Valley Bank crisis that unfolded in 2023 fueled investors’ preference for physically owning or securely allocating specific gold bars, instead of relying on paper claims or owning just a stake in a pooled reserve — which could be put at risk if a bank collapses, said Nicky Shiels, head of research and metals strategy at MKS Pamp, a precious metals refining and trading firm.
The World Gold Council’s chief market strategist John Reade likewise noted that this is especially the case for those who are worried about the health of the global financial system.
“Some holders of physical precious metals are wary of storing gold within the banking system, even in allocated form, so they prefer to hold gold with entities that are not banks,” Reade said.
Lack of trust in some domestic banks is also a key driver, said Jeremy Savory, founder of Millionaire Migrant, a Dubai-based consultancy that provides citizenship-related services to high-net-worth individuals.
“If you’re in a country where you don’t trust the banking system, for example, Lebanon or Egypt or Algeria … they don’t want to put it in the bank,” said Savory, whose clients include high-net-worth individuals around the world who are trying to move physical gold to vaults in Switzerland, Singapore and Dubai.
That said, vaulted gold may be less attractive for short-term investors, given that the transaction costs for purchasing and moving physical gold is higher than that of paper gold, said World Gold Council’s Reade.
But why store them in Singapore specifically?
“Singapore is viewed as the ‘Geneva of the East’; it has a reputation as a safe jurisdiction with relative political and economic stability,” Shiels said.
The Southeast Asian nation’s role as a key transit hub also makes it an attractive and convenient place for the wealthy to park their gold.
“Singapore is a transit hub. Anywhere that is a transit hub, usually makes sense that there’s a gold vault,” said Savory. “You can bank, you can store your gold there, but you can also pick it up [easily] because it’s a transit hub. And this is where Switzerland is losing out,” he added.
Tariffs are putting a pinch on foreign gold coming into the US. There was a rush of sending gold our way in the first quarter. The margins on gold are pretty tight—so adding ten percent tariffs on them coming into the country will ruin a large investor.
As long as the US keeps expanding our debt, gold will likely be a good buy.
Too close to china..
Well, Singapore is stable. And, perhaps more importantly, has not shown an appetite for OTHER-PEOPLE’S-MONEY as other money centers such as London have.
“Wealth moving from the West to the East.”
LOL!
“gold and silver bars amounting to about $1.5 billion.”
If I lived outside the US and needed accounts for doing business here I would only keep enough money for day to day operations. Anything more than that would be kept in a safe location outside the US.
1.5 billion is a rounding error
Transferring gold to Singapore now is like an American moving to the Philippines seeking safety in early 1941.
MSM continues to untether themselves from Americans. Every story they run is intended to erode support for Trump. They abandoned any pretense of actual news reporting
MSM continues to untether themselves from Americans. Every story they run is intended to erode support for Trump. They abandoned any pretense of actual news reporting
In the event of a global economic collapse what good are your gold bars IN SINGAPORE?
The ultra-rich will die and leave their gold behind.
What difference does it make where you park gold - or is this not physical gold?
Holding paper gold is the height of stupidity.
This is so true.
—> In the event of a global economic collapse what good are your gold bars IN SINGAPORE?
Depends entirely on what plan B scenario you are preparing for…
Switzerland of the East. But, not far from China.
Maybe the ultra wealthy they are referring to are not Americans.
NBC. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
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