Ref : UOB Silver account - Some doubt

[cath7888]

Hi Dennis,

May i know where to look for Silver or Gold chart? What is the current

price for silver and gold ? How much is the maintenance fee for holding a

UOB Silver saving account? What is the minimum amount for buying

silver?

Thanks & Best Regards
Cath

[Dennis Ng]

Hi Dennis,

May i know where to look for Silver or Gold chart? What is the current

price for silver and gold ? How much is the maintenance fee for holding a

UOB Silver saving account? What is the minimum amount for buying

silver?

Thanks & Best Regards
Cath

Hi Cath,

the info is here: http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/investme ... etals.html



For Silver Savings Account: An annual administrative fee (in ounces of silver) as low as 0.2 ounce per month or 0.375% p.a. on the highest balance per month, whichever is higher. The fee is subjected to GST, which will be deducted from your account in ounces of silver also.

An administrative charge of $30 for the closure of the account within 6 months. The fee is subjected to GST.


I check the spot price of silver here:

http://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html

[wemakebread]

Personally, I happen to have a forex account with FXDD.
It happens to offer gold & silver as well.
Therefore I got Gold (XAUUSD) & Silver (XAGUSD) on MT4 platform, which offers very good charting options, like drawing trendlines, adding indicators (eg. MACD, MA) and writing your own comments.

I am not suggesting that you need to trade silver/gold with FXDD, but you can just use their MT4 platform for your technical analysis.

Cheers!

[Dennis Ng]

Silver is now US$18.55, after the recent correction which saw it dropping to US$15.......

From the charts, it looks like Silver is about to break the US$19 resistance soon....let's wait and see if it happens.

[adriantal]

I had gone to UOB and the impression I got is that Gold/Silver investing is more for short-term traders than for long term. Correct me if I am wrong but for example I put in 5K to open a Silver account with UOB, UOB will take away a fee every month in terms of Silver ounce or interest. And I need to leave the account open for 6 mths so as not to pay any fee. By the end of 6 mths, the amount of Silver I bought using 5K will have been reduced. It seems like I am at a losing end if I buy Silver using the account and hold.

Any other means to invest in gold/silver without having to pay "maintenance fees"? I dont want to hold physical stocks as well.

All advice appreciated.

Many thanks.

[Dennis Ng]

I had gone to UOB and the impression I got is that Gold/Silver investing is more for short-term traders than for long term. Correct me if I am wrong but for example I put in 5K to open a Silver account with UOB, UOB will take away a fee every month in terms of Silver ounce or interest. And I need to leave the account open for 6 mths so as not to pay any fee. By the end of 6 mths, the amount of Silver I bought using 5K will have been reduced. It seems like I am at a losing end if I buy Silver using the account and hold.

Any other means to invest in gold/silver without having to pay "maintenance fees"? I dont want to hold physical stocks as well.

All advice appreciated.

Many thanks.

I disagree. I have been holding my Silver with UOB since year 2008, not for short term trading.

Everything has costs. Even if you buy a Unit Trust, there is annual management fee of 1% to 2%. The charges imposed on Gold or Silver Saving account by UOB is about 0.5% per year, not high in my opinion.

If you buy physical gold or silver, you need to pay GST, whereas Gold or Silver Saving account with UOB has NOT GST payable, that you save 7% already.

[adriantal]

Thanks Dennis for your explanation. I guess I was misled by the lady at UOB who told me that most of her customers who opens the Silver depost account used to go in and out of UOB frequently to buy/sell which led me to think its more like short term than long term.

Moreover, the fees stated on their website of 0.2 ounces/mth or 0.375% pa whichever is higher will be charged for the amount held in the account which led me to think that the amount I am holding is diminishing as long as I am holding to it.

I will see to open the account asap, more for protection.

[Dennis Ng]

Thanks Dennis for your explanation. I guess I was misled by the lady at UOB who told me that most of her customers who opens the Silver depost account used to go in and out of UOB frequently to buy/sell which led me to think its more like short term than long term.

Moreover, the fees stated on their website of 0.2 ounces/mth or 0.375% pa whichever is higher will be charged for the amount held in the account which led me to think that the amount I am holding is diminishing as long as I am holding to it.

I will see to open the account asap, more for protection.

charges is 0.375%, but from my experience, closer to 0.5% per year, becos when they deduct charges, they deduct from your silver holdings based on the "bid prices" while we buy silver from them at "offer" prices....

To me, 0.5% is acceptable, since the alternative, investing into Commodity Funds typically annual management fee alone is 1% to 2%.

[XLTan]

Hi Dennis,

thanks for highlighting the fact of 0.5% charges is lesser than that of fund management fees. I think a lot of us are not conscious of these fund expenses, which tend not to be transparent if we do not read the documentation properly.

[Dennis Ng]

Hi Dennis,

thanks for highlighting the fact of 0.5% charges is lesser than that of fund management fees. I think a lot of us are not conscious of these fund expenses, which tend not to be transparent if we do not read the documentation properly.

yes, the fees and charges for different investment is a significant factor. This is why for the last few years, personally I switched from investing into Unit Trusts to ETFs, which have much lower fees.

Most unit Trusts impose sales charges of 1% to 3% and annual management fees of 1% to 2%.

[TinCan]

There are still few funds which has zero sales charge, offers better returns than money mkt funds. E.g. UOB SGD Fund, DBS Enhanced Income SGD. I keep some cash in UOB SGD Fund, i see its so far better than savings acct and money mkt. However, these funds hv dip during recession, maybe not so much, as per my observation. Btw, only Dollardex and fundsupermart has 0 sales charge for UOB SGD fund, DBS i think only fundsupermart has promotion. Just some of my views .

[ironman]

http://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html

Hi Dennis,

The bid & ask price stated in the website as of now is 24.38 & 24.40 respectively.

Why is UOB selling at a much higher price of 31.88? I know they need to earn but did they mis-quote the price?

[Dennis Ng]

http://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html

Hi Dennis,

The bid & ask price stated in the website as of now is 24.38 & 24.40 respectively.

Why is UOB selling at a much higher price of 31.88? I know they need to earn but did they mis-quote the price?

Hi ironman,
UOB quotes is S$, what you see for Silver price is US$24.38. Don't compare Apple (US$) with Oranges (S$).

[ironman]

http://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html

Hi Dennis,

The bid & ask price stated in the website as of now is 24.38 & 24.40 respectively.

Why is UOB selling at a much higher price of 31.88? I know they need to earn but did they mis-quote the price?

Hi ironman,
UOB quotes is S$, what you see for Silver price is US$24.38. Don't compare Apple (US$) with Oranges (S$).

Ooops, overlooked at the different currencies. Tks.

[jamestai]

Hi Everybody,

I just open my Silver saving account with UOB yesterday at their main branch at Raffle place. Buy at SGD$31.80 per ounce. Then I go to their Gold Counter at the basement. There are a long queue of people buying Physical GOLD there !

James Tai