#147. Gold Investment In Malaysia

Find Out 5 Ways You Can Invest In Gold In Malaysia, And Know Which Is The Best

Many people have been interested in this shiny metal as investment of late. If you have seen my previous article on my forecast on gold price, it's coming true. The third triangle has formed and the gold price is now going up.

This article will give a comparison on where is the best place to invest in gold in malaysia.

1. Poh Kong
I bought a piece of 50gm Poh Kong Bunga Raya 999.9 Fine Gold gold bar on 5 November 2007. The selling price was RM95 per gram.

On 8 December 2008, I sold it back to Poh Kong. While the retail price for 999 gold on that day was RM105 per gram, Poh Kong bought it back from me at only RM94 per gram. Doing the maths, that's about 12% buying and selling price difference.

This is definitely not a good place to buy gold and invest in gold.

2. Maybank Gold Savings Passbook
In my early days of investing in gold, I was happy that Maybank offers a gold savings passbook account. This means that I don't have to find a safe deposit to keep the my gold bars from Poh Kong.

Let's examine the buying and selling price.

Today's gold price in Maybank:
Selling RM100.61
Buying RM93.10

Doing the maths, you can see the buying and selling price difference is about 8%. This is better than Poh Kong.

But wait, there is more. Read on.

3. Public Bank Gold Investment Account
On 21 April 2008, Maybank Gold Savings Passbook Account had a new competitor. It is the Public Bank Gold Investment Account. I was happy with this initiative from Public Bank. Let's see their buying and selling gold price difference to see what I mean.

Selling RM97.78
Buying RM93.83

Doing the maths again, the price difference between buying and selling is 4.2%. This is about half of what Maybank is offering. Definitely a good place to invest in gold. Don't you think?

A related article that I have written that you can read is here.

Now, why are we interested in the buying and selling price difference?

Well, the smaller the gap is, the faster you can break even on your investment when the price is going up. If you buy a Poh Kong gold bar, you have to wait for the price to go up more than 12% before you can make a profit in your investment. You are buying at the Retail price (Selling price) and you are selling back your gold at their Buying price. Therefore, the smaller the difference, the better it is.

Of course if you prefer to hold physical gold coins rather than just having a passbook account, you can do so by buying them from Maybank or UOB Bank.

4. UOB Bank Gold Coins
UOB offers competitive pricing in their gold coins and products (click on Gold Prices on that link).

UOB has Australian Nuggets, Gold Maple Leaf, Kinebar, Pamp Gold and Singapore Lion. They come in different sizes. The best ones are those 1 oz weight.

For example, look at the Aust Nuggets buying and selling price.

Selling RM3078
Buying RM2993

Let's do the maths. The difference is about 2.8%. This is by far the best compare to all those above.

5. Maybank Kijang Emas
Maybank has its own gold coins too. It's called the Kijang Emas Gold coins. It comes in three sizes, 1 oz, half oz and quarter oz.

The best rate of course is the largest one, the 1 oz gold coin.

Selling RM3141
Buying RM3041

Do your maths and see the selling and buying price difference. It's about 3.3% difference. Certainly can't beat UOB's prices.

So, now you know the difference. Invest wisely.

Disclaimer:
1. All prices shown above are based on the date of this article is published. Please check with the banks or retailer for the latest gold prices (the links are already provided throughout this article).
2. Physical gold coins or bars may not be available at all branches. Please check with the banks and retailer to find out where you can purchase them.