Everest Gold: What you need to know before investing

Everest Gold is a Singapore fintech company working to make gold trading and investment accessible and affordable for retail investors on a secure online platform. It employs advanced technology which allows clients to track real-time gold prices as they seamlessly build, invest, trade and sell their gold portfolios.

Investors do not need any specialised trading experience to yield higher profits when investing in gold via Everest Gold. Simply buy when the price of gold is low and sell when price is high to get instant profits! With zero transaction fees and no minimum amount required, take advantage of price movements to execute unlimited trades! Everest Gold is truly the most affordable and accessible platform for retail investors to start investing in gold today.

Read: How To Maximise Your Returns Investing In Gold With Everest Gold

Investment safety

Even more reassuring is the fact that Everest Gold recognises that being able to invest in a safe and secure portfolio is often the utmost important criteria in the minds of investors. Therefore, it has made investment safety and security its top priorities. To ensure that its customers have peace of mind while trading gold, it has entered into a tripartite supervision agrrangement with Pacific Trustees Singapore and Malca-Amit. This ensures that no party can unilaterally exercise its rights over the gold. Here is how each party plays a part in ensuring investment safety for clients trading on Everest Gold’s platform.

Third Party Custodian

Pacific Trustees Singapore is appointed as the gold custodian in the Everest Gold and the appointment. After users purchased gold on the platform, the ownership of the gold is transferred to PTS. Investors can rest assured that Everest Gold has no authority over gold assets.

With over 25 years in business under the Pacific Trustees Group International, Pacific Trustees (Singapore) Ltd (“PTS”) has over 4 years of experience in the corporate and individual trust. PTS provides a comprehensive end to end clearing and Trustees services for global and domestic equities and fixed income securities. As a fully licensed Trust Company by Monetary Authority of Singapore, PTS has full capabilities to provide for full range of trust and other related services thereto for major domestic corporates and regional corporates and financial institutions.

Third Party Storage

Malca-Amit, an international vault chain established since 1963, provides storage of luxury goods for high net worth individuals and internationals banks. Its global team of experts have vast experience over logistics, security, customs house and special operations. Malca-Amit has over 70 offices in 40 countries worldwide and uses highly secured and strategically located facilities.

Gold purchased by customers on Everest Gold’s platform is fully insured and stored securely in Malca-Amit’s state of the art facility located in the Singapore Freeport.

Regular Audits by Professional Company

Everest Gold has appointed a professional firm, Crowe Horwath First Trust LLP (“Crowe Singapore”) to perform independent verification of its gold supply, gold reserves and gold collection, on a quarterly basis, in accordance with Singapore Standard on Related Services. This is to ensure amount of digital gold issued on the platform is equivalent to amount of physical gold stored in the vault.

Crowe Singapore is part of an international professional services network, Crowe Global. Ranked as the eighth largest global accounting network, Crowe Global consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in close to 130 countries around the world.

The tripartite supervision arrangement between Malca-Amit, Pacific Trustrees Singapore and Everest Gold will allow retail investors to trade safely and securely while building up their dream gold portfolio. Investing in gold has never been safer.

Everest Gold is available for download on Android, iOS and desktop.

For more information, visit https://everestgold.sg

In line with this year’s National Day celebrations, Everest Gold will be giving 400,000 reward points (worth 55 SGD) for every new-sign up upon successful account verification. Reward points can be converted to gold during Gold Subscription Events. Enter referral code “WAVTW” when you register your Everest Gold account. Promotion valid from 8 to 31 Aug.

 

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‘Thrive with Grab’: New financial products including the opportunity to invest on the Grab app

Grab logo

Last Tuesday (28 July), we wrote about how Grab might be implementing a 0.32 SGD platform fee on each ride to help cover its costs.

Today (4 August), Grab Financial Group, the financial services arm of the ride-hailing company has announced a few new financial products including a micro-investment scheme that would allow you to invest as you spend on the Grab app.

The new features are part of the ‘Thrive with Grab’ strategy which aims to tap into Southeast Asia’s mass-market financial services opportunity.

According to Grab Financial Group senior managing director Reuben Lai, the strategy will allow consumers to “build their wealth, manage their finances and protect what they value during this uncertain period”.

Here are the deets.

#1: New third-party consumer loan

You will soon be able to access personal loans offered by Grab’s licensed bank partners. The group is working with its bank partners to integrate their application programming interfaces (APIs) so you can securely apply for loans directly from the Grab app.

#2: Micro-investment scheme: AutoInvest

After Grab Financial Group’s acquisition of robo-advisory start-up Bento Invest, they have created AutoInvest. AutoInvest is a new micro-investment product that will allow the public to invest at least 1 SGD per transaction on the Grab app. 

The good news? You will earn returns of about 1.8% per annum and the amount will be paid out to your GrabPay wallets.  

“AutoInvest sets GrabPay apart from other e-wallets by allowing users to invest their wallet balance easily. The invested sum can then be withdrawn at any time, with no penalties, to spend on Grab services or at any merchant accepting the GrabPay Card,” said Grab in its news release.

And of course, nothing comes for free. When AutoInvest rolls out in early September, you will need to pay a fee to use the service.

#3: Expansion of “buy-now-pay-later” payment plans

Following the launch of AutoInvest in September, expansion plans for its “buy-now-pay-later” scheme will also come to play in October.

You can look forward to PayLater Instalments, giving you the ability to split your purchases into monthly instalments. In addition to that, there’s also PayLater Postpaid, where you can defer your payment to the following month. It will only be applicable to selected e-commerce stores in Singapore and Malaysia in October.

The news comes after a report yesterday (3 August) that Grab is raising 200 million USD (275 million SGD) from South Korean private equity firm, Stic Investments.

What are your thoughts on Grab’s new initiatives?

 

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How To Maximise Your Returns Investing In Gold With Everest Gold

The arguments of having gold in your investment portfolio have already been well articulated by scholars, but do you know how to go about doing it in Singapore in a cost-efficient manner?

The traditional way of buying gold jewellery and passing it down to the next generation is highly cumbersome and costly. Purchasing gold bars from a bank and storing them in a vault will not be cheap either. Fret not, your chance to start building your own dream gold portfolio is finally here with the launch of Everest Gold in Singapore.

Traditional Ways Of Investing In Gold

The most traditional way of investing in gold is to purchase and store gold jewellery at home while waiting for capital appreciation. However, this is a costly way of investing in gold because of leakages such as workmanship costs and 7% GST on the purchase price.

The other way of investing in gold is to purchase gold from the banks. However, there is often a minimum quantity to purchase which may put it beyond the reach of retail investors who do not have a significant amount of money to set aside in the first place.

Purchasing gold directly from the banks is also not a cost-effective way of investing in gold because of the significant bid-ask spread and storage fee charged by the bank. Bid-ask spread at the bank could go as high as 30% while storage fees are often levied as a separate service charge at 0.25% of the current portfolio. All these fees significantly dilute the returns investors can potentially make from gold.

An Elegant and Tech-savvy Solution To Own And Trade Gold

To maximise your returns from investing in gold, you should own and trade gold on Everest Gold. Everest Gold is a fintech company working to make gold trading and investment accessible and affordable for retail investors on a secure online platform. Everest Gold uses 999.9 pure investment-grade gold. Its 1kg gold bars are obtained from Metalor Technologies Singapore Pte. Ltd, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metalor Technologies International SA, the leading worldwide precious metals refiners based in Switzerland.

Everest Gold employs advanced technology which allows clients to track real-time gold prices as they seamlessly build, invest, trade and sell their gold portfolios. Here are the key cost advantages of using Everest Gold to invest in gold:

  • Affordable: No minimum amount required such that the capital investment is low. Start trading gold from as low as 0.01g of gold!
  • Trade with peace of mind: Your investment assets are fully insured.
  • Lower gold price: Benchmarked against international gold price, price of gold sold on Everest Gold is significantly lower than banks (USD$0.558 vs USD$0.783 per 0.01 of gold) during its Gold Subscription Event
  • Maximise Returns: No transaction fees mean all your principal are invested in the possible capital appreciation of gold
  • Accessible: 24/7 trade for instantaneous liquidity, something which the banks cannot provide

Additionally, investors do not need any specialised trading experience to yield higher profits when investing in gold via Everest Gold. Everest Gold is truly the most affordable and accessible platform for retail investors to start investing in gold today. Say no to workmanship cost, GST, high bid-ask spread and storage fees once you start investing in gold via Everest Gold.

Everest Gold is available for download on Android, iOS and desktop. 

For more information, visit https://everestgold.sg 

Enter referral code “WAVTW” when you register your Everest Gold account. Be rewarded with 300,000 reward points (worth US$30) for each successful account verification. Promotion valid till 31 July 2020.

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Financial Planning In The Wake Of COVID-19

Financial planning has never been an easy task, but the pandemic has made it even more difficult. Finance professionals are used to consistency and accuracy. They are not trained to plan for unclear economic conditions. No one is! The five-year plan that we are supposed to send to our supervisors is now completely out of the window.

How can you plan for your finances, if you do not know what is going to happen in the future?

#1: HAVE A ROBUST PLAN

You can better understand your financial resources such as investments and cash flows, if there is a robust financial plan in place. A comprehensive plan covers the ares of budgeting, investment, insurance, retirement, credit, and estate planning. When these areas are well covered in a sound financial plan, you have a greater clarity on how each financial decision affects another.

Specifically, the financial-planning team should focus on the following five steps: getting a clear view of the company’s position, building a fact base, aligning the financial plan to a concrete direction, determining the best moves, and identifying the trigger points that prompt businesses to adjust.

#2: KNOW WHERE TO START

Companies and individuals must know where to start. To get this, you need the support of experts. Together, you can see the historical and current financial trends. The January 2020 financial plan can be a good place to anchor on. This can help you to establish any assumptions that will need to change as a result of the pandemic.

#3: ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE POSITIVE CASH FLOW

Set up a realistic budget, which indicates your money inflows and outflows. Having an emergency fund that covers you for three months can ensure that you have enough liquidity to tide you and your dependents during financially difficult times. Doing so will give you some peace of mind even if you suffer temporary setbacks such as losing a job or are unable to make a living because you must be quarantined

#4: GET INSURANCE COVERAGE

Insurance is a means to cushion against financial losses and unexpected events. Find a suitable hospitalization and life insurance plan to cover your hospital bills and critical illnesses. There are also insurance plans that are related to growing your savings like endowment plans and investment-linked insurance plans.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Focus on what you can control. Set up a sound financial plan, carve a realistic budget, get insurance protection, diversify your investments, and commit to a long-term strategy to achieve our life goals.

Sources: 1 & 2

 

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What are investment bonds?

Simply put, bonds are a type of fixed-income investment that results in an investor lending money to the bond issuer in exchange for interest payments. The cash you inject into these funds will be invested in a variety of assets, for example property or shares.

You will received steady interest income with a potentially higher yield compared to the interest from a savings account.

However, the amount you get back isn’t guaranteed and depends on how successful (or not) the investments have been. The value of your investment can fluctuate greatly – you may either see a huge return on investment or you may lose money. This means there is a financial risk involved as there is a possibility you’ll get back less than you invested in the first place.

How do they work?

If you want to invest in bonds, you will require a lump sum – and some bonds require a minimum cash amount. Most people that invest in bonds will use a qualified professional or investment company who will explain the different funds available for you to invest in. As explained above, there is usually no minimum term length, so a lump sum will be paid to you either on death or when you request to withdraw money from your bond. It’s worth noting that if you wish to withdraw early on, you may have to pay a penalty charge.

What are the pros and cons of buying bonds?

Here are just a few of the pros and cons of investment bonds.

Pros

  • You may see the money you invested grow, meaning you get back more than you put in
  • Certain investment bonds have conditions that you won’t get back less than you invested
  • As bonds are a type of life insurance, certain policies may pay out a lump sum higher than the value of the bond if you die
  • Usually, you can withdraw cash from your bond each year up to a set limit
  • They can be an effective way to save long-term

Cons

  • The value of your investment may go down, meaning you get back less than you put in
  • You may face penalty charges if you want to withdraw money early on
  • This means your money will be tied up for several years
  • You may also have to pay charges when setting up the bond

There are many other pros and cons associated with investment bonds. Fully understanding the associated risks before investing is essential – as bonds are not suitable for all investors. It’s important to seek advice from a financial professional before making any type of investment.

 

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