1. Direct Ownership
When investing through a precious metals ETF, you don't actually own precious metals. Instead, you are buying shares of a trust that is backed (to varying degrees) by physical metal.
When investing in gold, silver, and platinum through OneGold, you maintain direct ownership and title to your bullion. While metals backing a given ETF are often stored with unnamed sub-custodians, OneGold products are only held in known top-tier vaults around the world. OneGold receives monthly confirmations of metal ounces held at each location, which is posted on our audit page. Metals held through OneGold also are audited by an independent third-party accounting firm, no less than twice yearly.
2. Physical Redemption
Once you've invested in a precious metals ETF you may find it very difficult, if not impossible to take delivery of metals. For example, the minimum holding amount that will qualify for physical delivery in the most popular gold ETF in the U.S. is 100,000 shares. For reference, one SPDR gold share is roughly equivalent in value to one ounce of gold. If you've satisfied this requirement, you may also be faced with an incredibly limited selection of deliverable products and additional fees.
OneGold customers can redeem for as little as one gram of gold, silver or platinum, with $0 in shipping fees. OneGold customers can easily convert their vaulted holdings to any one of the 20K+ products found on APMEX.com, and can rest assured knowing their package will ship within 1-2 business days, fully insured.
3. Insurance
With any investment, comes an evaluation of risk. Did you know that metals backing most, if not all gold and silver ETFs are uninsured? This is not commonly known but may be of concern especially if you are considering investing in a gold or silver ETF.
Not only do OneGold customers maintain direct ownership of their gold and silver, they also enjoy the peace of mind knowing that their metals are fully insured. OneGold products stored in the U.S., Swtizerland, and the U.K. are insured by the Lloyd’s of London, while metals stored in Canada are insured by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM).
4. Fees
Annual management fees for the most popular precious metals ETFs range from 0.40%-0.50%.
When owning precious metals through OneGold, there are storage fees to cover costs related to storing, auditing, and insuring your precious metals. However, these fees are still lower than the above-mentioned management fees at 0.12% for gold and 0.30% for silver and platinum.
5. 24/7 Access
Gold and silver ETFs only offer trading during stock market hours, even though precious metals markets can move 24 hours a day. With OneGold, you can transact 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
OneGold also enables you buy at any time and execute transactions without having to pre-fund the account. Selling your bullion on OneGold can also be done with a few clicks, and cash withdrawals are processed within 1-2 business days.
