UOB’s gold bars, coins are selling fast. How else can small investors buy gold?

[SINGAPORE] Gold’s meteoric rise is showing no signs of letting up. Driven by a rapidly weakening US dollar and geopolitical tensions, the yellow metal has broken records repeatedly.The precious metal crossed the US$5,000 mark earlier in January – jumping 27 per cent in less than a month, and at one point crossed US$5,500 in late January . It’s up nearly over 70 per cent year on year, and last traded around US$5,022.On the ground, gold fever has also gripped the man on the street. Retail buying of bullion overwhelmed UOB - the only Singapore bank that sells physical gold bars and coins here - leading the bank to announce new operating measures to manage customer queues.According to UOB, total transacted volume for its physical gold in kilograms shot up about 60 per cent year-on-year in 2025. “This performance reflects a parallel and strengthening preference among another segment of investors for physical bullion, particularly as a means of long‑term wealth preservation and portfolio diversification during periods of elevated market volatility,” said Kelvin Ng, head of group global markets at UOB.Of the 27 types of gold bars on UOB’s website stating stock availability, all are sold out except seven types - most of them the Lunar Series designs. Gold coins in all denominations are fully sold out.On Monday, the bank said that with effect from this Friday, walk-in bullion buyers will be turned away; physical gold buyers will be served only by appointment.Demand for its gold savings accounts also went up, although to a lesser extent. Transacted volumes rose about 48 percent year-on-year. “This growth indicates increasing adoption of paper‑based gold investment solutions among retail customers who value convenient, liquid exposure to gold price movements without the operational considerations associated with physical ownership,” said UOB’s Ng. The bank’s gold savings account allows customers to buy, sell, and convert gold holdings into physical gold, all backed by gold assets.“Overall, these trends point to a broad‑based increase in gold investment activity among our retail customers,” Ng said. “We advise customers to leverage the convenience of online dealing for our Gold Savings Account, to avoid the long queuing times during this period of heightened demand.”Gold bars sold by UOB range from S$20,694 for 100 grams to S$206,115 for a 1kg bar, as of Feb 10. Convenience aside, for the average investor looking to buy into gold as a hedge or for other reasons, the cost of investing might be getting increasingly out of reach. Pawnbrokers are also benefiting from the gold rush. Singapore-listed Moneymax earlier this month said it expects a “significant improvement” in its second-half and full-year net profit.The company cited the retail and trading of gold and luxury items segment as a major factor, due to higher gold prices and increased sales volume.With the “sold out” signs up for gold sales, where can customers get their hands on some nuggets of the yellow metal?Gold ETFs and fundsGold ETFs track the price of gold - but the difference is investors can buy much smaller amounts of units or shares. They all have expense ratios like any other fund, ranging from 0.25 per cent to 4 per cent.The more common ones are physical gold ETFs. These are physically-backed gold ETFs which hold investment-grade physical gold bullion in trust. They track the prices of gold.These are some examples:LionGlobal Physical Gold Fund - Offered by OCBC-owned LionGlobal, this fund is backed by investment-grade gold bars kept in the Le Freeport vault in Singapore. It says that while many gold funds have their vaults in the US or UK, with “limited means of repatriation,” Singapore has strong rule of law, stable foreign relations and free of natural disasters.The minimal initial investment sum for this fund is S$1,000, and subsequent investments can be in units of S$100.SPDR Gold Shares ETF - This ETF is listed on the SGX, and can be traded in Singapore or US dollars. Investors can buy in units of one share, which as of Jan 29 was at S$640.2.iShares Gold Trust, abrdn Physical Gold Shares and GraniteShares Gold Trust: These are US dollar-denominated ETFs offered by brokerages here such as Tiger, MooMoo and FSM.iShares Gold Trust was trading at US$101.25 as of Jan 28, abrdn Physical Gold Shares was at US$51.24, while GraniteShares Gold Trust was trading at US$53.01, according to MooMoo’s data.There are many other gold funds and ETFs of other varieties sold on brokerages, and what sets them apart might be fees like expense ratios. They include gold mining ETFs, among others.Gold savings accountsSuch accounts allow investors to hold digital gold which has the same value as physical gold, with no storage or custody fees.At UOB, investors can buy as little as 1 gram of gold for the account, costing S$226.78, as of Jan 29. There is a monthly sales charge of 0.25 per cent per annum of the highest gold balance per month, with a monthly minimum charge of 0.12 grams of gold.Currently, UOB is the only bank where investors can convert their digital gold to physical gold.OCBC offers even smaller units - as little as 0.31grams for the minimum quantity.Read more: Gold is booming. From mega vaults to discreet transport, who are the key players in Singapore?Digital goldHSBC has a product called HSBC Gold Token, which gives investors the ability to trade as little as 0.001 troy ounce (0.03 gram).This token is also backed by physical gold bars kept in its vault. It’s a digital token which allows investors to acquire fractional shares of physical gold represented by tokens recorded on a distributed ledger. Each token represents the fractional share of 0.001 troy ounce of gold. However, only investors with a Hong Kong residential address can trade this product.Gold bullion coinsUOB also offers gold bullion coins for as little as S$747 for one-tenth of an ounce. However, coins in all units are currently sold out. Gold exchanges here such as BullionStar, GoldSilver Central also sell gold coins.Jewellery stores and gold dealersMost shops that sell ornamental gold jewellery also retail gold bars and coins. They include well-known names like Lee Hwa, Poh Heng, Taka and SK Jewellery. These days, queues are also seen at gold dealers like BullionStar and Silver Bullion.