Switzerland and gold Switzerland is the largest gold market in the world. It is estimated that 1,000 tonnes of recently extracted quality gold primarily from South Africa and Russia finds its way to Switzerland every year. In the 1930s, Zurich had already established its place as the world leader in gold bullion trading. The founding in 1968 of the Zurich Gold Pool, a buying cartel created by key Swiss banks, is what gave Switzerland its dominant financial position in the market. Switzerland knew how to break into the market because it didn’t have any handicaps in any area, which wasn’t the case for its competitors. Switzerland has an excellent banking system, the currency is totally open and convertible, there are no restrictions on owning gold privately, the importation and exportation of precious metals is open, interest rates are low, banking practices are sound, and there are no taxes levied on precious metal investments.

Switzerland is the largest gold market in the world. There are six different ways to invest gold from your Swiss bank account. Gold has always been popular with people who thought the world financial markets might collapse one day, but since the crisis of 2008, many more investors now want to know if their bank gold is allocated (physical gold bars) or merely scriptural (nominal gold). We can open you a Swiss bank account enabling you to make these investments in gold, as well as platinum, palladium and silver:

1. Buying physical gold POPULAR
You can buy gold bars and deposit them in a safe deposit box in the bank. Some banks will ask you to place them yourself in your safe deposit box, while others offer an arrangement whereby you permit your banker to do this in your place. These bars usually come with certificate so that when you resell them, no question arises as to the exact gold content. This is allocated gold, actual gold bars of which the bank is only the custodian and that are not part of the bank's assets.

2. ETF Gold Funds POPULAR
A new allocated gold investment is available at some of partner banks, whereby physical gold is bought by a fund and you can buy shares in this fund. The value of the fund is covered 100% by actual gold. The gold is owned directly by the fund and not part of the bank's assets. It is an allocated gold investment.

3. Precious metal account
Precious metal accounts are an attractive alternative to actually buying gold. Through the means of a contract, you own part of a gold bar. The bank is obliged to give the amount and quality of gold you have at your request. Precious metal accounts also prevent you from paying any manufacturing and delivery costs. Annual fees for keeping the gold are nevertheless still billed by the bank. You can carry out transactions by telephone and receive a regular statement similar to what you receive for your stocks. Please consider that this type of investment is technically a claim against the bank's assets up to the present value of the weight of gold you have purchased. It is nominal gold.

4. Buying shares or investing funds in the gold industry
You can buy shares in companies that extract, process and buy and sell gold. Specialized investment funds allow you to diversify the countries and sectors of your investments based on an optimal return/risk factor.

5. Gold-based derivatives
You can invest in gold and still benefit from the leveraging effects of term agreements and options. Swiss banks offer numerous gold-based products. The way they operate is very similar to that of products sold on the stock market.

6. Numismatics
Finally, you can buy gold coins. Contrary to gold bars, which are valued according to their weight in gold, many factors determine the value of a coin, such as how rare it is, the number of coins that were originally made, or the age and condition of the coin. Numismatics interest a limited circle of people who are fascinated by history and art. Some of the Swiss banks we can introduce you to have a numismatics department that can sell you ancient gold coins - gold with a history. This is also, obviously, an allocated gold investment.

Other pages of interest:

Investing from your Swiss bank account