In the gold market, there is a remarkable change in investors’ preferences as well as prices. The world’s wealthiest investors are turning to buying physical gold bullion directly instead of gold funds and similar financial products. Increasing demand has begun to strain the capacities of private vault companies, which have been storing large amounts of precious metals for years.
According to the Financial Times, the increase in demand for physical gold has led some private vault companies to make new investments. While London-based Sharps Pixley is looking for a new facility to reduce the density in its existing storage area, Switzerland-based Swiss Gold Safe is preparing to expand capacity at all six different vault locations.
MKS PAMP, one of the leading companies in the precious metal industry, is planning to establish a new and large safe deposit box facility for its ultra-wealthy customers. The company’s new service is expected to be aimed at customers with bullion worth at least $50 million.
According to safe deposit companies, the demand for physical gold has accelerated especially in the last 12-18 months. It is stated that investors are more interested in storing their gold directly in their own individual safes, rather than keeping them in common pools.
Behind this change is the desire to reduce dependence on the financial system. Some wealthy investors consider physical gold kept outside the banking system as a safeguard against possible financial crises.
Research also reveals that the interest of high wealth groups in gold has increased.
According to the research conducted by HSBC with approximately 10 thousand wealthy investors in 10 countries, 52 percent of the participants plan to increase their gold investments in 2026.
In the research conducted by UBS with 307 family investment offices representing an average net worth of 2.7 billion dollars, it was seen that the average share planned to be allocated to gold in portfolios increased from 2 percent in 2025 to 3 percent in 2026.
Bank of Singapore also announced that its customers’ physical gold assets have increased by more than 40 percent since the end of 2025. The bank reported that a significant portion of these assets belong to customers in the ultra-high wealth group.
