
Among the most important aspects about the investment in precious metals is the physical availability. Precious metals would miss their purpose if they were not available when needed. That is also the reason why many hide their precious metal at home or keep it in a house safe. The risks, however, are not to be taken from the hand, because the question is whether you can also sleep well with precious metals stored in the house. Robberies and theft continue to increase in all of Europe and with 144,000 burglaries in 2013, these are no longer a rarity. If the global economy worsens, they will probably continue to increase even stronger.
The most effective solution is to store precious metals outside the banking system in an independent and reputed high-security vaulting facility. You should strictly make sure that the stored goods are actually kept 100% in the name of the client and that the rightful owner can also remove his goods at any time – either by delivery or by own pickup on site. Only if the client is 100% the owner of the stored goods, there exists no counterparty risk, which means that even in the case of insolvency of Elementum and the operator the goods remain the property of the client and does not count to the insolvency estate. This is in sharp contrast to funds or ETFs, where it is not sure at all if clients will get access to their precious metals when needed (or if they may get paid in more or less worthless paper instead).
When storing small quantities of precious metals, the safety aspect is of little relevance. It is always possible to find a safe hiding place in your own environment, which you can access at any time. For larger quantities, especially bulky silver bars, you need a suitable vault that has the respective safety requirements. In addition, a sufficient insurance cover is recommended. Nevertheless, there is a risk of theft and robbery with your own vault. If you want to sleep peacefully, you should not keep your precious metal at home, but in an independent location outside the banking system. An independent custodian is recommended who is reputable, has fully insured the goods against all insurable risks and stores the goods at 100% in the name of the client, so that the client/owner can pick up its goods at any time. Please always note the terms and conditions. Elementum offers all of this in a unique fashion, because this family owned and operated business group was created to effectively and safely store and trade silver and other precious metals.
An alternative in the storage of precious metals may also be a bank deposit box. With such, you have the advantage that in case of insolvency of the bank, the contents of the locker is not part of the bankruptcy estate. However, there is a risk with banks that you may be faced with locked doors in the event of a crisis, especially if you want to access and open your deposit box Examples include the Kaupthing Bank in Iceland, and the crises in Argentina and Cyprus. Another aspect: If thieves clear out customer deposit boxes in a bank, the content is not automatically insured. The same is true even if the boxes are destroyed by fire. It is therefore appropriate to conclude special insurance policies, which are, however, generally quite expensive, bearing in mind that the customer is under the burden of proof that the box was actually filled with the specified goods in the event of theft or fire, and was not randomly emptied by the customer himself before. It is precisely this burden of proof of the customer which the insurance company usually takes advantage of and leave their customers with empty hands despite insurance cover. Often, customers remain sitting on their damage. Remember the bank robbery at the Volksbank Berlin-Steglitz in January 2013, where the customers are still waiting for a compensation years after the loss, and despite them publicly demonstrating angry in January of 2014.
No matter whether you store your precious metals at home or in a high-security vaulting facility, a full insurance policy against all insurable risks of loss (especially robbery, theft, fire, water, etc.) is highly recommended. If the metal is stored at home, the insurance conditions are quite complicated and expensive, because in the case of loss, the policyholder must prove that it also has an insurance claim and the goods were not negligently lost. Disputes with insurance companies are therefore not uncommon and must be taken into account. Therefore, it is advisable to keep precious metals in an external and independent high-security vaulting facility, which then insures the operator against all risks. On the one hand, an operator gets better insurance conditions because the goods are stored according to the highest security regulations and standards. Furthermore, in the event of damage, the owner does not have to provide evidence to the insurance company. Make absolutely sure that the operator of the duty-free warehouse has hired a reputable insurance company and that the entire stored goods are 100% fully insured.
At Elementum, you have a reputed insurance company as a partner who has fully insured each and every bar that we have stored for our clients against all insurarable risks and for replacement at current market value.
Although it is well known that silver has the greater upside appreciation potential than gold, gold is still the best-selling precious metal. This is mainly due to the fact that silver is subject to VAT. This means that the 19% (VAT in Germany) go first to thefiscal authorities. However, silver can also be stored without VAT, you just have to know how. The solution is to store the silver in a duty-free warehouse until you pick it up personally, have it delivered to you or sell it to a precious metal dealer (for example, Elementum Deutschland GmbH). By this way, you can buy 19% more silver (instead of paying 19% VAT in Germany). Of course, this extra product of silver that you can buy more, also participates in the event of a price increase. Only when you take out the silver from the high-security vaulting facility, the VAT must be paid.
It is recommended that your chosen custodian of your precious metals has chosen a location that is located outside metropolitan areas, because these are, in times of crisis, usually rather difficult to access and well observed and tracked. The duty-free vaulting facility St. Gotthard is located in a former bunker amidst a mountain massif of hard granite. It has bullet and explosion proof doors. This high-security vault is one of the safest storage locations in the world and, with its location in central Switzerland, is strategically well located or quickly accessible by car or train. Originally, the bunker in the St. Gotthard massif was part of the so-called "Swiss Réduit", a military defense system. The Swiss built this for protection against a German attack during the Second World War. The defense system consisted of about 20,000 bunkers located along the northern and eastern border of Switzerland to the border with Liechtenstein. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, a large part of the facilities were demilitarized and sold to private investors, including today's duty-free warehouse St. Gotthard.
What better place to store could there be for your precious metals than this fully insured and 24/7 guarded high-security facility inside the St. Gotthard mountain?