Gold Investment - Depositories

Prudent investors never store their gold in safety deposit boxes which are kept at banks. It is best to make use of private safe deposit vaults or depositories which are owned, managed and maintained by private companies:

• Better Security Features - Depositories normally offer better security features than most banks in South Africa. Security features which include: Security guards, closed circuit televisions, control rooms, fingerprint scanners, seismic detectors, dual key systems, bulletproof glass, armed response, etc. 

• Insolvency / Bankruptcy - Another down side to storing your gold in a safe deposit box at a bank or financial institution, is the risk of bankruptcy / insolvency, especially when the contents are not insured.

• Private Companies - Most depositories are owned, managed and maintained by private companies. This is a great benefit, especially if one considers the exposure of banks to economic cycles or to a collapse of the financial system.

In addition to the above, the sole purpose of depositories are to provide the safest possible environment for the storage of valuables. At a bank however, the storage of a safe deposit box is seen as a secondary function. This opens the door to a lot of unnecessary risks, especially if one considers the cases where safe deposit boxes have been stolen from bank vaults in South Africa.

One must also not forget that depositories are independently insured and make no claims over the assets stored.

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