The gold price
Thundering Berks - 15 January 2009
PERHAPS YOU missed it too, but the thundering herd of Merrill Lynch just spotted a badly-kept secret...
Investors and savers with something to lose are choosing physical gold to help protect their wealth.
A shock revelation? Apparently so on Wall Street!
"People are genuinely worried about what the world is going to look like in 2009," said Gary Dugan, chief investment officer for the US bank and its famous army of advisors, to The Daily Telegraph last week.
"It is amazing how many clients want physical gold, not ETFs," he gasped, citing the still-popular exchange-traded Gold ETFs that give you paper – not gold – through a trust-fund structure built on counter-party and balance-sheet risk.
"They are so worried," Dugan added in awe of these wealthier charges, "I never thought I would be getting calls from clients saying they want a box of Krugerrands."
Two fresh concerns leap out from Wall Street's sudden moment of clarity:
- First, why is Merrill Lynch so amazed by its clients' No.1 aim – not losing their wealth?
- Second (if not more pressing), just what kind of mark-up does Merrill Lynch charge for selling gold Krugerrand coins?
This simple, ultra-safe service "cuts the costs of gold ownership dramatically," as the Financial Times puts it. The Telegraph calls BullionVault "the most secure way to invest in physical gold" too. Which might appeal if you're looking to defend your wealth today.
Because even before the credit bubble went bang, a US study of 2006 found that "Not losing everything" was the primary worry for almost 90% of high-net worth individuals (Cultivating the Affluent Client, CEG Worldwide).
Yet incredibly, when asked if just one-in-five of their clients worried about losing their wealth, a mere 15% of the financial advisors surveyed thought that might be true.
To learn more about BullionVault now, keep reading if you are Ready to Buy Gold...?
Adrian Ash runs the research desk at BullionVault, the physical gold and silver market for private investors online. Formerly head of editorial at London's top publisher of private-investment advice, he was City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning from 2003 to 2008, and is now a regular contributor to many leading analysis sites including Forbes and a regular guest on BBC national and international radio and television news. Adrian's views on the gold market have been sought by the Financial Times and Economist magazine in London; CNBC, Bloomberg and TheStreet.com in New York; Germany's Der Stern and FT Deutschland; Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore, and many other respected finance publications.
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