GoldBroker, simply put, is a bullion storage company. It means that when you buy bullion through them, the gold itself is moved to one of their vaults in either New York, Toronto, Switzerland, or Singapore. You’re actually purchasing gold that Goldbroker already owns, they simply re-assign the appropriate amount to your name before it gets stored in their vault.
This is a novel approach in the precious metals industry, and is a very appealing concept to those that want to cut out middlemen and have more direct access to their gold. But how well does it actually work out in real life? What do their customers have to say? We took a detailed look at Goldbroker to see if they are an investment company you can trust. Read on to find out if they are indeed the real deal.
WHO IS GOLDBROKER?
GoldBroker, sometimes referred to as FDR Capital (which is technically their parent company) was founded by current CEO Fabrice Drouin Ristori back in 2011. Ristori is an investor and financial entrepreneur that has been involved in the precious metal markets since 2008. He runs GoldBroker with board member Egon von Greyerz, who began his role in 2012. Von Greyerz has an impressive resume as a top fund manager, having founded Matterhorn Asset Management AG as well as GoldSwitzerland.com. Von Greyerz may be known to many of our U.S. readers from his appearances on news and finance networks such as CNBC, BBC, and King World News.
Ristori’s vision was to create an offshore gold storage company that would allow you to physically access your metals any time you like, with no custodians or third parties involved to interfere. To this end, they chose headquarters in Malta, a tried and true offshore banking, insurance, and tax haven. GoldBroker has offices in New York and London as well.
Essentially, their purpose is to offer investors physically held gold and silver that is stored outside of the traditional banking system. The big upside here is that you are thus protected from any bank failures or seizure risks. GoldBroker has made it their mission to take this process and make it as simple and easy as possible for their clients.
WHAT DO THEY OFFER?
GoldBroker’s entire concept is relatively unique in the world of precious metal storage. With them, you are your own custodian. When you make a purchase, the gold or silver storage certificate is issued directly to you. This direct approach helps prevent fraud from third parties. GoldBroker clients actually have such a direct line to their gold that GoldBroker employees don’t even need to be present when they visit their holdings. You can also take possession of your precious metals without having to pay any penalties, which isn’t usually the case in the industry.
GoldBroker does have a storage partner if you’re in need, Malca-Amit. They directly issue metal ownership certificates bearing the client’s name as well as the serial numbers of all bars, so there is no doubt about ownership if you use them.
We found GoldBroker’s online platform pretty straightforward and easy to use. While they don’t offer the nearly-unlimited options that some of the largest firms provide, their offering beats out the majority of their offshore storage competitors.
One notable product they offer is platinum and palladium bullion. They also have the standard gold and silver options from the major mints of the world. North America is represented by the Gold American Eagle, Gold Buffalo, Gold Canadian Maple Leaf, Platinum Canadian Maple Leaf, Silver American Eagle, and Silver Canadain Maple Leaf. Examples from the rest of the world are available as well, including the British Gold and Silver Britannia, the Austrian Mint’s Gold and Silver Philharmonics, Perth Mint’s Gold and Silver Kangaroos, and the South African Gold Krugerrand.
As far as bars go, they offer 100 gram gold bars, one kilogram gold bars, Valcambi-made one ounce gold bars, one ounce platinum bars, and one ounce palladium bars. Also available eis the Royal Canadian Mint’s one ounce gold bars and their 100 ounce Silver bars, as well as Republic Metals Corporation’s one kilogram silver bars, 100 ounce silver bars, 1,000 ounce silver bars, and one ounce gold bars.
As we mentioned earlier, GoldBroker offers a few different vault locations: Singapore, Toronto, New York City, and Switzerland. The New York City location is primarily used for U.S.-based gold IRA account holders that are required to store their gold within the territory of the United States, per the IRS. It’s worth noting that the storage location within Switzerland is in a VAT-free zone, so you won’t have to pay the extra tax on your transactions.
GoldBroker also offers a buy-back program, where they promise to buy back all precious metals within their facilities. Commissions are one percent, but start at a $75 minimum on any buy-back transaction.
GoldBroker uses a sliding scale for fees that is based on the total value of the metals being stored on your behalf. The lowest tier is the under-$25,000 level, where you will be charged 1.5%. Once you hit 50 ounces, this figure drops to 1.25% annually. The next level is over 900 ounces, where the yearly fee drops further to 1.05%. The highest tier is for those accounts holding over 4,500 ounces of gold. Once you hit that mark, the fee goes down to 0.95%.
Silver fees are similar. Accounts with less than 60,000 ounces will see a 1.5% annual fee. Over 60,000 ounces translates to 1.3% yearly. The 300,000 ounce mark designates the highest tier, where you’ll be paying a 1.2% fee annually.
Other fees include a $200 vault visit fee, a $200 fee to pick up metals in person, and a $10 fee to take photos of your metals.
WHAT DO WE LIKE?
First of all, we love the sense of security that GoldBroker provides their clients. They have secure vault locations around the world, and all of their storage partners are fully insured for your safety. Because you are essentially your own custodian, you don’t have to worry about potentially catastrophic events like a bank failing or a third party confiscating your assets. If you’re looking to store your wealth outside of the traditional banking system, GoldBroker is among your best options.
GoldBroker also does a great job at providing access to your physical gold, something most other precious metal investment companies can’t say. You can have your metals shipped to you at essentially any time. You can also visit your gold at the vault facility whenever you wish and inspect it with your own eyes. You have complete ownership of your holdings as well, with every single piece having its own unique serial number that is linked to your own name. Goldbroker’s process and paperwork really makes you feel like you’re the one in control, and it provides valuable piece of mind to investors.
GoldBroker’s buy-back program makes it easy for you to liquidate your precious metals whenever you like. The company promises to buy back any precious metals stored in their vaults in the form of coins, and will do so for between 1% and 11% above spot price. There are no exit penalties, either. The price is based on the condition of your coins however, so it’s smart to try and take the best possible care of them.
Finally, GoldBroker’s strong record of consumer confidence made us feel comfortable at the prospect of investing with them. Their A+ BBB rating is impressive, and they’ve had zero complaints in the last 3 years. They have a solid record on TurstPilot as well, with 88% of reviewers giving GoldBroker a five-star rating. In fact, most of the negative reviews we saw were from people that didn’t seem to understand GoldBroker’s product offering and process prior to investing, so we wouldn’t take too much stock in them.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Getting started with GoldBroker is fairly simple and didn’t take us that long. First, you’ll want to go to their website and create an account. You’ll fill out their online registration form, and after that you will need to verify your identity by sending GoldBroker a copy of your passport or other ID. They will also want proof of address. Although it makes signup take a few minutes longer, we really like that GoldBroker takes these extra steps to weed out scammers and keep their system secure.
Next, you’ll get access to their online marketplace. There you can select whatever products you’re interested in and ultimately place an order. Then you’ll have to transfer funds via bank transfer so you can actually pay for it all.
Finally, you have to choose what you’d like to do with your gold and silver. You can have it delivered to your home if you’d prefer to keep it in a safe or some other secure place. There are no shipping fees if you live within the United States, which is another nice touch from GoldBroker. You can also keep your metals in one of Goldbroker’s vaults, and they even offer storage in VAT-free zones.
THE BOTTOM LINE
GoldBroker is a relatively young gold investment company, but they make up for this with strong backing and executive leadership that includes one of the world’s leading gold fund managers. They appear to have a bright future ahead of them and will no doubt be a major player in the industry for years to come.
There are numerous benefits to investing with GoldBroker that most of their competition can’t match. They offer vaults in 4 countries, so you can pick which works best for you regarding taxes and regulations. There are no custodians between you and your gold, and it’s easy to physically access your metals at any time.
If you’re looking for a way to securely store your wealth while keeping it outside of the traditional banking system, then we highly recommend GoldBroker. They’re doing things a bit differently than most other gold investment companies by providing their clients with a direct line to their physical metals. We really like this, as it offers more protection from outside influences like stock market crashes or recessions.
If you’re interested in learning more about GoldBroker, or are looking to purchase precious metals, then visit them at www.goldbroker.com or call 1-800-780-0350.