Anglo Far-East Bullion Company

[solamente_oro]

Hi there,

Does anyone have any experiences dealing with the Anglo Far-East Bullion Company that they might share?

http://www.anglofareast.com

This is the bullion bank behind Pecunix currency and they do offer metal accounts for retail customers. It's kind of attractive because of the bank-like services but from what I can tell, the metals are still in unallocated form.

-

[Silverity]

I hold silver bullion account with them. No problems and internet access to account eases use.

The only negative was as a small private investor having to wire funds to some latvian bank which caused my local bank teller some confusion, in fact she entered the wrong bank account numbers and the money bounced around for a week or two longer than anticipated. However, the silver purchase price had been locked in prior to wiring cash.

They have also started a silver-only stocks fund.

Silverity.

[solamente_oro]

Hi Silverity,

Thank you for replying. :)

Might I ask how you find the fees compared to a bank or dealer like Kitco? Do you use your account as a transactional account (i.e. with the offered debit card) ?

I'm still waffling on whether my comfort level is high enough to go with an entirely virtual off-shore bank but the idea of a bullion savings account is soooo attractive.

-

Solamente Oro

[PONCE]

Solamente Oro,,,,,,,,Only Gold.

If you don't hold it, you don't have it.

Si usted no lo aguanta, usted no lo tiene.

[solamente_oro]

Hi Ponce,

Also on the Wet Coast, eh? I appreciate your point on not having metal on-hand - my piggy bank is fed maple leaves regularly. :)

I really would like to use gold as my transactional currency when abroad and unfortunately AFE is the only bank I've found available to those outside of Asia. I am trying to find out more about Anglo Far-East's references and backers - being a Canadian means having zero experience with private banks. Annoyingly, State Bank of India and HSBC, which have any number of branches in Canada, don't offer bullion passbook accounts as they do overseas.

-

Solamente Oro

[Silverity]

I can only speak from a silver point of view but I paid about 8% up front for 5 years storage since that is the time frame I expect the silver bull to run. Compared to others that is a good deal since the silver is actually there and not in some fractional reserve form (note it is in unallocated form but the ounces are physically vaulted in Australia I think). Here's a little table I drew up at the time:

Who Minimum Buy Premium Sell Premium Spread Other Costs Allocated?
Perth Mint Certificate $10000 5% 3% 8% $50 set up No
Anglo Gold Bullion Account None 7.5% (2000 oz) 2% 9.5% None Segregated
Kitco Pool Account None 2% 3% 5% None No
Silver In Store 1610 oz 8% (<3200oz) 1.25% p.a. Yes
Hancock & Harwell 1000 oz 0.5% p.a. Yes

1. Anglo Gold buy premium includes 5-years up front storage fees.
2. Hancokc & Harwell uses Scotia Mocatta storage scheme.

I use it as a buy-and-hold account but with online use to liquidate holdings when the anticipated price spike comes later in the decade.

As for credentials, there is no guarantees even if you hold your own silver (theft, confiscation, fire, ...). So, I only hold about 1600oz with them. The key is diversification and sensible asset allocation. I also hold a Perth Mint Certificate in unallocated form which I can change to allocated with a few% storage fees per annum.

Silverity.

[solamente_oro]

Thanks very much for the detailed info, Silverity. Sounds like a sensible strategy you have in place.

-

Solamente Oro