Gold has always existed as a currency in history. Gold itself is "money", and its importance needs to be said. On March 17, 1968, the Bretton Woods system collapsed, and the currency era of gold officially ended. Since then, gold has no longer been linked to currencies of various countries, and no longer freely exchanged, and the investment era of gold has begun. Therefore, from this perspective, the history of world gold investment has been more than 50 years. But the situation in our country is different.
After the founding of New China, the government has been strictly controlling the gold industry. Gold production enterprises must sell all the gold mined and smelted to People's Bank of China , and then the People's Bank of China will allocate to each gold-using unit through approval. People are prohibited from holding and buying and selling gold. In 1982, gold jewelry was resumed in China, and gold jewelry was only available at this time. In the 1980s, fashions of wearing gold jewelry appeared, and older people still remember it fresh. On October 30, 2002, marked by the official opening of Shanghai Gold Exchange , China's gold market is opening up in full, and gold prices are also liberalized, fluctuating simultaneously with the international market. Gold investment has gradually entered the public, and gold investment has ushered in a new beginning in China. Therefore, the history of gold investors in my country is about 38 years.
However, it should be noted that gold investment is not "low risk". The price of gold fluctuates greatly. Whether you make money after buying depends on the price you buy. Historically, gold has experienced a bear market for 30 years. We must believe that the gold market, like the stock market, will also have a bull and bear cycle. In a bear market, investors will suffer losses to varying degrees, and long-term investors may face long-term losses; short-term investors face greater risks, and gold prices fluctuate at any time. Once the interpretation is wrong, losses are instantaneous.
cultural relics unearthed from Sanxingdui 3000 to 5000 years ago gold mask
gold price will be affected by various unpredictable world factors, which will lead to sharp fluctuations in the price of gold. At this time, buying and selling gold may make a profit. At the same time, gold is also a means of wealth storage with a long history, and these are the basis for gold as an investment product.
After hundreds of years of practice and development, there are currently many tools for gold investment around the world, and more investment tools have been derived from traditional investment tools. Below, we will summarize the current situation of gold investment at home and abroad, and introduce the current popular gold investment tools
physical gold
real gold gold is a gold investment behavior that has physical gold delivery . The main real gold investment varieties include standard gold, gold bars, gold coins, etc.
The important characteristics of physical gold are its wide variety and non-standardization. The variety is reflected in investment varieties including gold bars, gold coins and even jewelry; the so-called non-standardization means that gold business institutions can process and produce their own brand of gold products. Some of these gold products come from gold companies, some from banks, and the size and specifications are different in each institution. As for investment, gold bars have the most investment value and are in line with the meaning of gold investment as defined in this article. Of course, as an investment product, it should be able to sell smoothly after buying it. Therefore, whether there is a repurchase channel is an important indicator of the value of gold bar investment.
For physical gold, the best investment product is to directly purchase investment gold bars. Investment-based gold bar processing fees are low, and various additional expenses are not high. Standardized gold bars can be easily bought and sold around the world, and most countries and regions in the world do not impose transaction tax on gold transactions. Moreover, gold is a 24-hour continuous quotation worldwide, and gold quotation can be obtained in a timely manner around the world.
Although investment gold bars are the most suitable variety for investing in gold, they do not refer to the common commemorative gold bars, New Year's gold bars, etc. in the market. These gold bars are all "jewellery gold bars". Their price is much higher than the market price of international gold , and it is troublesome to sell back, so you have to get a big discount when cashing out. Therefore, before investing in , you must first learn to identify "investment gold bars" and "jewellery gold bars".
Investment gold bars generally have two main characteristics: ① The price of gold bars is very close to the international gold market price (it cannot be completely consistent due to processing fees, exchange rate , quality and other reasons); ② The gold bars purchased by investors can be easily sold and cashed again. Financial investment gold bars are generally traded by gold sitting on market maker , which proposes the trading methods of buying and selling prices. The closer the bid price and selling price quoted by the gold market trader at the same time, the lower the transaction cost of the financial investment gold bars invested by gold investors.
When buying gold bars or gold bricks, be sure to confirm that it is a financial investment gold bar, not a jewelry craft gold bar. General craftsmanship jewelry gold bars can be purchased in small quantities for collection, but they are definitely not suitable as financial investment products. Only financial investment gold bars are the best choice for investing in physical gold.
So, what channels can investors invest in physical gold? Gold shops are a general channel for people to buy gold products, but buying gold through gold shops channels is more important than investing value. For example, buying gold jewelry is a relatively traditional investment method. Gold jewelry is largely a practical commodity, and its price difference is large when buying and selling, so the investment is not very meaningful.
Investors can also invest through bank channels to purchase physical gold, including standard gold bars, gold coins and other products. The Shanghai Gold Exchange’s personal gold business is currently mainly represented through banks; the panda gold coin launched by my country is issued by the People’s Bank of China. It is a legal currency with a very high investment value.
In addition, gold companies with gold exchange membership have also launched gold investment business in recent years. This kind of business is mainly reflected in two aspects: one is the manufacturing and sales of gold investment products; the other is the agency business, where investors participate in the transaction of gold exchange . The investment gold bars launched by gold companies are relatively standardized and have high investment value. They generally promise repurchases. Their gold bar sales channels are firstly through agents such as gold stores and banks, and the other is to open self-operated stores. However, gold companies have few business outlets, and their products are mainly sold through agency channels.
paper gold
paper gold is a variety specially used for price difference. It cannot extract real gold and is suitable for short-term trading . For investors who like to do short-term trading, the sluggish stock market makes paper gold a good alternative. The low participation threshold is another feature of it. You can buy and sell it for as little as more than 2,000 yuan, which is lower than the threshold of the stock market. Therefore, everyone can participate in paper gold, buy and sell every day, or even trade 24 hours a day, which is a good mass investment product.
Paper gold refers to the paper transaction of gold. Investors' trading records are only reflected in the "gold passbook account" pre-opened by individuals, and do not involve the withdrawal of physical gold. At present, many banks in China have started paper gold business. For details, please consult the banks that you often handle business.
The way investors participate in paper gold trading is to make a profit by selling when the price rises, that is, "selling high and buying low" to earn the difference, without participating in the delivery of physical gold. In fact, intermediary institutions, i.e. banks, do not provide physical delivery. Therefore, once an investor buys paper gold, he can only close the transaction by selling it in the end. Paper gold trading is essentially a "zero-sum game", that is, the result of the transaction is that no actual value or wealth is generated, and the money earned by the person who makes money is the money lost by the person who loses money.
Although paper gold is a transaction between these investors participating in paper gold trading, forming a relatively closed market, each paper gold market still has a basic market behind it as a basis for the market rise and fall. In fact, paper gold trading intermediaries (banks) also need to go to this market to " hedge risks".This market can be domestic, such as the trading price of the same product of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, or it can be an international market. For example, Bank of China "Gold Treasure" refers to the gold quotation in the international market and converts it into RMB to quote it through the real-time exchange rate; while CCB "Account Gold" directly adopts the quotation method based on the real-time quotation of AU99.99 and AU99.95 of the Gold Exchange as the benchmark.
The trading principle of paper gold is similar to foreign exchange transactions, and banks play an important role in ensuring the smooth progress of transactions. Each transaction by an investor is actually conducted by the same bank, that is, the bank gives the purchase price and sale price of a certain gold variety at any time. When buying at this moment, it must be carried out according to the sell price of the bank. This role of a bank is called a "market maker". Market makers make money by earning the bid and offer spread. When one of the buyers and sellers has a particularly strong power, the bank has accumulated too many buy or sell orders, and it needs to go to the basic market to make its own buying and selling volumes roughly balance. Therefore, although paper gold trading is a closed market, it is impossible to deviate too much from the basic market.
uses paper gold trading methods in the gold market, which can save expenses such as storage fees, storage fees, insurance fees, appraisal fees and transportation fees that are indispensable for real gold transactions, reduce the additional costs in the gold price and improve the competitiveness of gold merchants in the market. The investment threshold for paper gold is relatively low, the operation is relatively simple, the trading methods are diverse, and the transaction costs are far lower than that of physical gold. It can be used as a medium- and short-term trading product and is suitable for ordinary investors.
paper gold counter trading hours are generally the bank's business hours, while online and telephone transaction hours are Monday to Saturday. For specific time, please consult the bank agent.
It should be noted that the quotation of paper gold is different in each bank, and is basically divided into quotation based on domestic gold price and quotation based on international gold price . In terms of quotations, the "gold experts" of ICBC separate the RMB and the US dollar, and comprehensively adopt domestic gold price quotations and international gold price quotations. Therefore, everyone needs to ask clearly when trading. In addition, you have to go to the same bank to buy and sell paper gold. Each bank does not charge a handling fee when handling it, only a spread is charged.
Gold ETF
First we need to understand what ETF is. ETF is the English abbreviation of Exchange Traded Funds. Its full Chinese name is " trading open-end index fund ". Its meaning can be understood from the following aspects.
(1) ETF was originally a stock concept, a kind of "index stock fund ". It is different from ordinary stock funds in that fund managers do not actively choose stocks, but buy and sell stocks of a certain index. For example, Shanghai Stock Exchange 50 ETF is an stock fund listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange . Its trading target is , the 50 component stocks of Shanghai Stock Exchange , and the proportion of each stock to the total market value is the same as that of the Shanghai Stock Exchange 50 Index, that is, the fund completely copied the Shanghai Stock Exchange 50 Index, and its rise and fall is also the same as the Shanghai Stock Exchange 50 Index. Its advantage is that when the index rises, the net value of fund will definitely rise, so there will be no embarrassment of only making money in the index. Of course, it cannot outperform the index.
(2) ETF a open-end fund . It has many characteristics of an open-end fund, such as the scale is not fixed, and it can be subscribed and redeemed at any time. In addition, unlike ordinary open-end funds, its fund shares can be listed and traded on stock exchanges like stocks and closed-end funds . (The author's "Fund Yiben Tong" was published by Electronics Industry Press in October 2007. It contains a detailed introduction to ETFs. Interested readers can refer to it.)
Gold ETF is an ETF with gold as the investment target and is a physical gold investment tool. Its operating principle is: large gold manufacturers consign physical gold to fund companies, and then the fund company relies on this physical gold to issue fund shares publicly on the exchange and sells them to various types of investors. Commercial banks serve as fund custody banks and physical custody banks respectively. Investors can redeem freely during the period of the fund's existence.The difference between it and stock ETF is that the underlying assets are different: the underlying assets of the stock ETF are stocks, while the underlying assets of the gold ETF are physical gold. From this perspective, it is essentially a kind of " asset securitization " securities. If it can be subscribed and redeemed, it can be bought and sold on exchanges, etc., it is completely the same as stock ETFs.
The first gold ETF was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in April 2003, and was launched in 2004 on the stock exchanges in London, New York and Johannesburg, South Africa. Among them, the gold ETF listed on , New York Stock Exchange, , is the ETF with the highest total net assets value (as of March 31, 2006, the total net assets of the ETF reached US$6.506 billion). This variety was issued by STREETTRACKS GOLD SHARES, and the gold goods it relies on were purchased from Newmont Gold Group. A gold ETF issued represents one tenth of an ounce (about 3.1 grams) of physical gold, with a minimum amount of one share. The custodian of the ETF is New York Bank, responsible for the daily management of the fund; the physical custodian is HSBC Bank , responsible for the custodian of physical gold that the ETF relies on. Since its launch, the
gold ETF has gained market recognition in just three years, with trading volume exceeding 400 tons. The main reason is:
(1) the transaction threshold is low. The minimum trading volume of 3.1 grams, i.e., you can invest in gold for only about $60.
(2) Safe and reliable. The shares represented by the fund have corresponding real money support, and the real money is kept by commercial banks and traded within strictly regulated exchanges.
(3) Convenient transactions. Trading within the exchange allows investors to buy or sell through brokers, which is very convenient.
(4) High transparency. Listed on the exchange, the price is open and transparent, and the market value of the assets is reflected to the greatest extent through ETF. In addition, since London gold market is a market participated by large institutions, the minimum trading volume is 1,000 ounces; while US laws stipulate that pension funds and mutual funds are not allowed to hold spot goods or commodity derivatives (including precious metals such as gold and silver). Therefore, in the United States and the United Kingdom, the launch of gold ETFs provides individuals and small and medium-sized investors with convenience in investing in gold, which is highly welcomed by the market.
For this emerging gold investment method, except for some investors with assets overseas, most domestic investors cannot participate. However, this method of gold ETF has a low threshold, convenient trading, and small transaction costs. For individual investors, this method is more suitable and will inevitably replace the traditional investment method of physical gold and become one of the main methods of gold investment. Since its launch in 2003, EFT has attracted hundreds of billions of funds to flow into the gold market, becoming the most direct driving force for the sharp rise in gold prices in recent years.
Currently, there are gold ETFs in China. As early as July 18, 2013, Huaan Gold ETF, the first gold ETF in China, was established. As of the end of September 2021, 12 gold ETFs public fund have been listed and traded, with a total asset scale of nearly 25 billion yuan. Investors who participate in the trading of gold ETFs need to open a stock account in a securities company or simply open a fund account. Ordinary small investors can only buy and sell gold fund shares in the secondary market, and cannot subscribe and redeem. The minimum buying and selling threshold is the same as stocks, with 100 shares per lot. From Table 4-1, it can be seen that all funds buy less than 400 yuan. Gold ETFs operate in a standardized, professional and transparent manner, and are investment tools with more advantages than paper gold.
List of domestic gold ETFs
Gold Jewelry: It is not suitable to be an investment product
Gold is an investment product and also a consumer product, which has the dual characteristics of investment and consumption. In the process of gold investment, there are many varieties that investors can choose, but before President Zhou Xiaochuan's speech at the annual meeting of the London Gold and Silver Association in 2002, there were very few gold holding patterns, and the most well-known one was jewelry gold. Under the premise that the country vigorously promotes the policy of "storing gold for the people", there are many types of gold that can be invested in. The most common ones include gold bars, gold coins, and even paper gold, futures, gold, etc., but most investors are most exposed to jewelry gold in their lives.
Jewelry gold is the most common among the people as a dowry. In Guangdong, when marrying a girl, you usually choose gold bracelets, gold necklaces, gold rings, etc. to get a good intention of gold and jade. Because its material is gold, people think of using it to preserve value when worn as jewelry. So, in the current investment environment, as an investment hedging tool, how much does it have to preserve value?
When purchasing jewelry gold, due to its additional process and processing technology, a lot of costs will be added to the retail process during sales. Today's gold jewelry suppliers mostly use the method of purchasing raw gold, designing, producing and opening flagship stores by themselves. In this complete production and sales link, due to the continuous rise in the price of gold raw materials, suppliers need to advance a large amount of funds for the purchase and turnover of raw materials. They need to design novel styles to occupy more markets, develop better technologies for production and processing, pay the VAT and fees in the circulation link, and spend the rent, labor and other costs of flagship stores. After all the above steps, when investors purchase, in addition to paying the raw material price of gold, more processing costs are required. In this state, the unit price of jewelry gold purchased by investors from the market is about 40 yuan/gram higher than the price on the Shanghai Gold Exchange during the same period.
When most investors buy jewelry gold, they regard it more as a consumer product rather than an investment product. As time goes by, when the style of jewelry passes, or gold becomes darker due to long-term exposure, it will not be properly maintained, and investors will think of its value-preservation function. When jewelry gold is cashed in, there are usually only channels provided by jewelry manufacturers in the market. However, because the gold market is just starting, this kind of jewelry gold will be eaten by repurchasers in the repurchase process, and the repurchase price is far lower than the raw material price of the gold market, about 20 yuan/gram lower. When purchasing, it is 40 yuan/gram higher than the market price, and when purchasing, it is 20 yuan/gram lower than the market price, thus the difference is 60 yuan/gram. In other words, the price of gold purchased by investors will only be guaranteed when it is 60 yuan/gram higher than when it is purchased, but the rise in gold prices has only really begun in September last year. In the long-term slow bull market, it is not easy to capture the market that rises by 60 yuan per gram. Therefore, the value preservation function of jewelry gold is just an additional function, not its most original function.
gold coins: combine handicrafts and investment products
investment gold coins need to be cleared three concepts, namely, general gold coins, commemorative gold coins and commemorative medals.
general gold coins are also called investment gold coins. The concept of general gold coins was first proposed by the South African Mining Association in the 1960s. Later, countries followed the example of minting general gold coins. It is an important form of gold in the currency field after the demonetization of world gold. It is a legal currency specially used for gold investment. In European and American countries, the concept of universal gold coins as gold investment products has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Investing in general gold coins is currently a popular investment method internationally. Common gold coins are significantly different from commemorative gold coins and gold bars, with the following main differences:
(1) Simple specifications, clear gold content, and easy to calculate value. In the past, gold coins were generally not marked with their gold content, and according to official regulations, their gold content generally ranged from several digits. The specifications of ordinary gold coins are very simple, generally 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, 1/10 ounce, 1/20 ounce (or 1/25 ounce).
(2) Low premium, easy to invest. In the past, gold coins were too high and floated up and down frequently, and were generally sold as collectibles. The price of ordinary gold coins is increased to be issued at a lower premium premium based on their gold content, so as to be easy to invest and close and sell.
(3) technical specifications and standards, guaranteed by central bank or national regulations, for easy repurchase. Gold bars, especially small-sized gold bars, often require specialized institutions to inspect before trading, and the procedures are cumbersome.
(4) To highlight the investment nature of common gold coins, it is an international practice to list and sell and recycle them.The general minting authorities require its dealers (including banks) to engage in listing and repurchase business while selling general gold coins. Due to the ease of cashing out, it has attracted many investors to buy it.
Commemorative Gold and Silver Coin or commemorative coins generally have clear theme content, limited edition, refined quality, and relatively expensive; while investment gold and silver coins do not necessarily have clear theme content, generally use patterns representing a symbol of a country, and the patterns can be changed every year, and the issuance volume is not limited, and the quality is ordinary. The price is from the international precious metal price plus a lower premium. It can be bought and sold freely and cashed to designated banks or gold stores at any time.
Since the issuance of modern gold and silver commemorative coins in 1979, New China has issued 10 series and more than 1,500 varieties of gold and silver commemorative coins so far. It not only provides a large number of gold and silver coin collection products for domestic and foreign collectors, but also fully demonstrates the style of modern Chinese gold and silver coins and the achievements made by New China in various fields. The long and splendid ancient civilization of the Chinese nation is also perfectly reflected in modern gold and silver coins.
With the increasing number of wealthy people in society, more and more people are interested in investing in gold and silver coins. Gold and silver commemorative coins have the characteristics of small issuance, valuable materials, and certain investment value, thus becoming a better choice for people to preserve and increase their assets.
Finally, it is necessary to distinguish between gold and silver coins and gold and silver medal . Because the market prices of coins and seals of the same subject matter, the same specifications are different, and the market prices of gold and silver commemorative coins are usually much higher than those of gold and silver commemorative medals. The most important and obvious difference between gold and silver commemorative coins and gold and silver commemorative medals is that gold and silver commemorative coins have denominations while gold and silver commemorative medals have no denominations. Whether there is a denomination indicates whether it is the country's legal currency, and on the other hand, it shows that the authority of commemorative coins is much higher than that of commemorative medals, because legal currency with denomination can only be issued by the People's Bank of China, so the authority of gold and silver commemorative coins is the highest. Simply put, whether commemorative coins or general gold coins are legal tenders of the country, but commemorative medals are not. This is the essential difference.
Finally, gold derivatives are also important investment tools, mainly including gold futures , gold options and futures-like T+D. Because these tools are too risky and too professional, this article will not be introduced, and will be specially introduced in the future.
