Ultra-rich moving gold bullion to Singapore

Wed May 28 2025

A Singaporean gold reserve saw its orders surge nearly 90 percent this year, with most from overseas markets, as more ultra-rich are moving their bullion to the city-state amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

The Reserve, a precious metals warehouse opened last year near Singapore's Changi Airport, recorded an 88 percent year-on-year jump in gold and silver storage orders for the first four months of the year, CNBC reported, citing founder Gregor Gregersen.

Ninety percent of new orders came from overseas customers, Gregersen said, adding that the company's sales of gold and silver bullion increased 200 percent year-on-year during the January-April period.

As many high-net-worth individuals are paying attention to uncertainties in tariffs and geopolitics, Gregersen noted that the idea of storing physical precious metals in secure jurisdictions like Singapore is prevailing these days.

Jeremy Savory, founder of immigration consultancy Millionaire Migrant, also pointed out that his high-net-worth clients are trying to move physical gold to vaults in Switzerland, Singapore and Dubai, with the tycoons' lack of trust in their home banks a key driver.

Singapore is outperforming Switzerland due to the city-state's advantages as a major transportation hub and the thriving banking sector, as the rich can do their banking and gold storage in the same place, according to Savory.

Although Dubai is also a high-security hub, Savory points out that the gold storage process there requires more paperwork, which some of his clients don't like.

Hong Kong is ambitious to become an international gold trading center, which was announced by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu last October.

It comes as gold prices keep climbing over the past years amid geopolitical tensions, reaching as high as US$3,415 (HK$26,637) in early May. Spot gold price stood at about US$3,313 per ounce at 7.30 pm on Wednesday in Hong Kong.

Source: https://www.thestandard.com.hk/