What’s the Best Practice for Private Gold Storage?

If you own physical gold, you will inevitably want to know about its whereabouts. Professional Gold Dealers report one of clients’ prime concerns is the wish to have an inventory of their gold holdings, where they’re stored, and under what conditions. J. Rotbart& Co., who assisted with this article, reported these as being their most frequently asked questions.

How to store gold and other precious metals

The best industry practice is for dealers to offer entirely transparent service in terms of safeguarding your precious metal assets. Your gold or precious metals should be transferred by the dealer to a tax-free vault of your choice for vault storage, anywhere in the world. This process should include assurances and insurance for safe and secure transportation as well as delivery.

Liability, audits & storage

Dealerships must be able to provide proof for multiple insurance policies; the most significant is an extensive liability coverage policy. For J. Rotbart& Co. this policy is underwritten by Lloyds of London.

Dealers also employ independent auditors specialized in precious metals. For J. Rotbart& Co. this service is provided by Alex Stewart International (ASI) who act on their behalf.

Finally dealers should be able to provide recommendations for high security, secured storage facilities, preferably in tax-free zones or freeports.

What happens during the audit?

During the audit, the auditors help the dealership protect your bullion storage by:

• Doing a physical inspection of the reserves
• Confirming all bars are checked against the inventory
• Inspecting storage conditions and packing quality
• Checking all serial numbers are as expected
• Doing random spot checks for bars weight
• Providing a certificate detailing the findings of the audit

First-class service

Naturally, you will want a comprehensive first-class service and employing an independent auditor reflects the dealer’s focus on protecting clients’ precious metals.

About the author:

Joshua Rotbart (LLM, MBA) is a Founding Partner at J. Rotbart& Co., a world renowned expert in providing solutions for clients wishing to ship, store and purchase physical precious metals. Joshua works with family offices, independent financial advisors and high net worth individuals to discreetly and sensitively provide tailored solutions for their needs.