Alternatives
Gold and Precious Metals
A real, scarce asset some people hold as a small hedge against inflation, currency wobble, and market panic, accessed in Singapore through ETFs, savings accounts, or physical bullion.
MAS Customer Knowledge Assessment
This is a Specified Investment Product (SIP).
MAS requires brokers and financial institutions to run a Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA) before opening retail access to SIPs. The CKA checks three things: relevant education, work experience in finance, and past trading history in investment products.
Clients who do not pass can still access non-complex products (deposits, plain SGS, plain SGX-listed shares, and most plain unit trusts and ETFs). To unlock SIP access later, ask your broker about the next steps, including any required learning modules that satisfy the assessment.
What it is
In plain language.
Gold is the classic alternative asset. It pays no interest and no dividend, so it does not compound the way a stock or bond does. Its appeal is different: it tends to hold purchasing power over very long periods and sometimes rises when shares fall hard, which is why a small slice can smooth out a portfolio's worst moments.
In Singapore you do not need to buy a gold bar to own gold. The common routes are a gold ETF listed on SGX, a bank gold savings account that tracks the price without you holding metal, or actual physical bullion (coins and bars) stored at home or in a vault. Each route trades off convenience, cost, and how directly you own the metal.
Investment-grade precious metals (gold, silver, platinum) sold in Singapore are exempt from GST, which is a deliberate policy to support the bullion market here. That removes one frictional cost that exists in many other countries.
How it works
In Singapore, in practice.
ETF route: SPDR Gold Shares is listed on SGX (ticker O87 in USD, GSD in SGD) and trades like any share through a brokerage such as POEMS, FSMOne, or DBS Vickers. You own a fractional claim on gold held by the fund and pay a small annual fund fee. This is the simplest and most liquid way in.
Bank savings route: UOB offers a Gold Savings Account that lets you buy and sell gold in grams pegged to the market price without storing metal. It is convenient but you do not hold physical gold and there are buy/sell spreads.
Physical route: dealers such as BullionStar and Silver Bullion sell LBMA-recognised coins and bars (for example Canadian Maple Leaf, Australian Kangaroo). You can store at home, in a safe deposit box, or in a dealer's allocated vault. There is no capital gains tax in Singapore on selling at a profit, but watch dealer spreads, storage cost, and authenticity. Gold sits in your cash portfolio; it is not CPFIS- or SRS-eligible.
Run the numbers
See it in your own figures.
See what investing a fixed amount here every month could grow to, at an illustrative return.
What regular investing could grow to
Investing a fixed amount every month, compounding at an illustrative return. Projected, not guaranteed.
Where it sits
Its place in the instrument map.
A sound plan is built in layers, from a guaranteed base up to small, high-risk satellites. This is the role Gold and Precious Metals plays, and the layers around it.
Small, high-risk positions you could afford to lose entirely.
Direct stocks and REITs held for long-run growth.
Funds, ETFs, and bonds that spread risk across many holdings.
Government-backed income and the SRS tax wrapper.
Guaranteed and liquid: your CPF base and emergency cash sit here.
The trade-offs
What it does well, and what to watch.
Good for
- Holding a small hedge (often cited as roughly 5 to 10 percent of a portfolio) against inflation and severe equity sell-offs
- Diversifying away from assets that all tend to fall together in a crisis
- People who want a tangible, globally recognised store of value outside the banking system
Watch outs
- Gold produces no income, so over the very long run it has historically lagged a diversified equity portfolio; it is a hedge, not a growth engine
- The price can be volatile and can stagnate for years; it is not a guaranteed safe haven
- Physical gold carries spreads, storage, insurance, and authenticity risk; gold savings accounts and ETFs are not the same as owning the metal outright
- Easy to over-allocate out of fear; treat it as a small satellite, not a core holding
In the market
What this looks like.
Real Singapore examples, shown to make the instrument concrete. These are illustrative, not endorsements.
How it connects
Instruments that work with this.
Broad Commodities
Funds that track a basket of raw materials such as energy, metals, and agriculture, used by some investors as an inflation hedge but rarely as a core holding.
Full breakdown Govt bondsSingapore Savings Bonds (SSB)
A government-issued savings bond you can buy from S$500 and redeem any month with no loss of principal.
Full breakdownSources
Where the facts come from.
- Investment-grade precious metals (gold, silver, platinum meeting purity standards) are exempt from GST in Singapore.iras.gov.sg/taxes/goods-services-tax-(gst)/specific-business-sectors/investment-precious-metals-(ipm)
- Singapore does not levy capital gains tax on individuals, so a profit on selling gold held as a personal investment is generally not taxed.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/basics-of-individual-income-tax/what-is-taxable-what-is-not
See where Gold and Precious Metals fits your own plan.
This is educational, not advice. When you want a detailed look at how this fits your situation, a licensed adviser will map it to your income, CPF, and goals.