When Gregor Gregersen first launched a bullion dealership in Singapore, he did not have an office and had nowhere to store the inventory. So, he squirrelled away the silver bars and coins under his bed. Transactions were regularly held at Aljunied MRT station.
The Global Financial Crisis had steeled his faith in liquid assets. “I don’t think people understood how close the entire financial system was to collapsing,” he says. “To me, it is now like a house of cards since the root causes of the 2008 crisis were never fixed. I don’t want to be invested in it materially when the next one occurs.”
The upheaval made him want to invest in physical precious metals instead. However, his local bullion dealers were cleared out. It was thanks to the manager at the European Central Bank gift shop that he could even acquire a one-kilogramme silver bar.
After moving to Singapore shores, he sought to continue building up his stacks of silver, but there were “virtually no markets to buy investment-grade bullion”. This led him to establish Silver Bullion. The company raked in $800,000 in revenue in the first six months, so Gregersen set up an office and a brick-and-mortar store.
Soon, clients began requesting for storage solutions for their holdings—desiring a safer place to store their precious metals. In 2014, Gregersen opened the doors to The Safe House, a 630-tonne capacity precious metals vault. The vision was a depository of the first order, which meant introducing a slew of game-changing benefits.
“When I founded The Safe House, I asked myself, ‘Is this a place that I can trust enough to store my own bullion in?’ If I can’t, how can I expect my clients to trust us?” he explains.
“Before gaining clients’ trust, we must have answers to the difficult and uncomfortable questions about wealth protection. For example, are we affected by events not limited to company bankruptcy, financial collapse, gold confiscation and the threat of war?”
The Safe House offers several advantages . For one, comprehensive insurance to protect against theft, fire, inside jobs, and terrorism. Plus, coverage for Mysterious Disappearance—a category of risks covered only if the underwriter has absolute confidence in the insured party.
There are also measures ensuring clients are the legal title owners of their stored bullion. All client bullion are uniquely identifiable via parcel numbers or serial number and specified in the storage invoices.
There is a testing laboratory authenticating all bullion accepted under S.T.A.R. storage. “Most commercial vaults do not offer testing services. They store precious metals under a ‘said-to-contain’ basis, indemnifying themselves from any responsibility should they be storing counterfeit bullion. This is not the case with us,” affirms Gregersen.
Perhaps most significantly, it operates exclusively under Singapore jurisdiction. Any foreign jurisdiction requests for their clients’ bullion will need to go through the Singapore justice system. The Singapore jurisdiction system ensures that owners truly own their bullion and will not be subjected to confiscations.
But when The Safe House came close to running out of space during the pandemic, he knew it was time to make a quantum leap. This prompted the major renovation and facelift of what is now called The Reserve, a 15,000-tonne capacity vault in Changi Business Park. Slated to open in a several months’ time, it will be one of the highest-capacity vaulting facilities in the world once completed.
Apart from precious metals, it will store art, precious gems and luxury timepieces. And Gregersen wants to set a higher standard. Unlike traditional vaults, which can be austere, if not inaccessible, even to clients, The Reserve will be “welcoming”.
“One major aspect of the bullion storage industry that I’ve always wanted to improve is greater transparency. Clients have related that they were denied access when they asked to check on their assets at other vaults. Many times, ‘security concern’ was cited as the reason for entry denial,” he lets on.
“Being unable to see your assets is the genuine security concern. How can you have peace of mind if you are never sure your physical bullion is where it is supposed to be? The real reason for entry denial could be due to lack of transparency or embarrassment about the lack of scale or tidiness.”
At present, The Safe House implements multi-party checking processes. The management system, stresses Gregersen, ensures that all bullion entering or leaving the vault requires at least four acknowledgment signatures. This includes one by an auxiliary police officer, who is not a staff of the company.
It also hosts vault tours and encourages clients to audit their precious metals holdings. Clients outside of Singapore can request for a virtual audit via a videocall.
The Reserve is openly visible despite being a high-security vaulting space. As a “unique asset ecosystem”, it will also offer fresh supplementary services. For instance, a client can use the P2P Loan Program to borrow against their luxury watches and use the funds to buy precious metals to be stored at The Safe House. Alternatively, they can sell an art piece to buy precious gems or gold to be stored in the vault.
The building will also house a watch atelier and a specialised bonded watch vault. Once stored, the watches can be collateralised by the owner or sold to the highest bidder. Wealth managers and family offices are also invited to rent one of the exclusive office spaces for meetings.
For all he has accomplished, Gregersen attributes part of his success to Singapore’s governance. “In a world where many countries carry massive debts, it’s amazing that Singapore stands out as one of the few countries with zero net debt. That speaks volumes about Singapore’s practical governance,” he says, adding that he has since become Singaporean several years ago.
He expects the company to further define systemic wealth protection solutions upon completion of The Reserve. As it is, the vertical integration of Silver Bullion, The Safe House and The Reserve, coupled with exclusive Singapore jurisdiction, positions the Silver Bullion Group in a league of its own.
“Most of our clients are high-net-worth individuals who do not live in Singapore. Being well-aware of the developments and risks in the global economy, they seek wealth protection solutions that traditional financial institutions cannot provide,” he says.
“I believe that The Reserve will provide enough gravitas and the coming world events will clarify the need for reliable safe haven services.”
