What is a Gold Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)?

Since 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has allowed SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension) or SSAS (Small Self-Administered Scheme) investors to invest and hold physical gold bullion in a SIPP or SSAS wrapper.

The Royal Mint has a unique offering in this space, called Gold for Pensions. Gold for Pensions allows you to invest in a range of physical gold bars, varying in size and weight, which are fully insured and stored within our vault - one of the most secure sites in the UK. All gold bars purchased under the Gold for Pensions service are assigned a specific serial number and stored within a specially allocated space.

For additional flexibility, we also offer our DigiGold product for those investors looking for the most cost effective way to add gold to their pension. With DigiGold, rather than buying specific bars allocated to you individually, you will be buying monetary portions of larger gold bars. These larger bars are also fully insured and stored within our vault. The DigiGold investment is still 100% physically backed and can be traded through your on-line account, 24 hours a day 365 days of the year. The minimum investment for DigiGold is £25.

The term “Gold SIPP” usually relates to a SIPP or SSAS provider who offers gold via their platform/service. There are a large number of providers who facilitate this option. For example, The Royal Mint has over 30 providers who offer Gold for Pensions. Providers range in terms of pricing and options so it always worth checking with them in relation to the associated costs and options.

A fairly common misconception is that a “Gold SIPP” is directly offered by the custodian of the gold, in our case, The Royal Mint. However, this is not the case. Any investor looking to invest in Gold for Pensions will need to make the investment via a SIPP or SSAS provider. The Royal Mint is not a pension provider, but simply an investment option via the provider’s services.

Last year we experienced record numbers of new accounts and assets under administration for Gold for Pensions. Investing in precious metals does seem to have become a mainstream investment option over recent years. Of course, part of this drive in demand is due to the “safe haven” view of gold during times of financial, economic and inflationary concern.

Gold has actually ended the year up in 17 of the last 20 years and as per the World Gold Council’s findings, allocating as little as 2-10% of an investment portfolio to gold has had a positive impact on a risk adjusted portfolio over a 2, 5 and 10-year period.

If you are looking to hold gold within your pension, the process is straight forward with The Royal Mint. Simply download our SIPP or SSAS application and forward them onto one of our partner SIPP or SSAS providers. They will then contact us accordingly to set up your account.