Gold and silver, held in Swiss vaults, priced in USD

Allocated vs. Pooled, and Why It Matters

This is the single most important distinction in precious metals storage, and it is worth understanding before you choose. In an allocated account, specific bars are identified in your name, recorded by weight, purity, and serial number, and held in the vault solely on your behalf. That metal does not sit on Winslow's own balance sheet, and it is not available to the bank for any other purpose, meaning it remains identifiably yours even in a scenario where the bank faced financial difficulty. In a pooled, unallocated, account, you own a claim on a shared quantity of metal rather than specific bars, which is typically less expensive to hold but represents a claim against the institution rather than direct ownership of identified bars.

Most Private Banking clients holding metals as a genuine long term store of value choose allocated storage for exactly this reason, while some clients using precious metals more actively, buying and selling positions relatively frequently, choose pooled accounts for the lower cost and faster settlement between trades.

Vaulting and Insurance

Physical metal is held in professionally operated Swiss vault facilities, insured at full market value by leading underwriters, with the kind of security infrastructure, reinforced vaults, biometric access, continuous monitoring, used by major bullion banks and dealers. You can request an independent audit of allocated holdings at any time.