Situation
The starting position
The institution’s clients wanted physical precious metals, and a competing bank already offered access. The requirement was to add physical metals without making clients learn a new system or requiring the institution to build a specialist operating capability.
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68
We coordinate secure transportation from the current location to the receiving vault.
$0
Hold physical metals in a secure depository environment rather than at a residence or office.
100%
Our Metals Onboarding team stays with the transfer from initial review through vault intake.
Result
The outcome
The institution made physical precious metals accessible through its own platform. GBI’s automated operating model has supported sustained transaction activity without a separate client workflow.
68 accounts. $54M in AUM. Zero new clients required.
WHAT GBI DID
GBI led the implementation end to end and tailored its technology and execution infrastructure to the existing platform. The institution’s existing screens and workflow remain the point of access. Clients specify an amount in local currency instead of buying whole bars or coins. No separate client platform is required, and GBI manages integration end to end.
Process
Four steps
$54M in physical precious metals, moved on-platform across one RIA book. No new
clients. No new money. No liquidations forced. Just assets that already existed, sitting in
home safes, safety deposit boxes, and private vaults, now brought above-the-line into
the firm's existing reporting stack.
01
Discovery at scale
GBI worked with the institution to understand its client experience, transaction flow and operating requirements.
02
Integration & Allocation
GBI tailored the implementation to the platform already in use. Clients can invest a specified amount in local currency, which allows fractional exposure within existing portfolios.
03
Ongoing operations.
GBI supplies the underlying technology and execution infrastructure. It supports liquidity, LBMA refiner sourcing, reconciliation and secure vault storage, with optional delivery. Automation limits routine intervention, and the program has run since August 2017 with limited ongoing operational intervention.
0.22%
INSTITUTIONAL GOLD ALLOCATION
This is not a one-firm phenomenon.
The median HNW household holds 3-5% of total wealth in unmanaged physical precious metals. Yet the value-weighted average institutional gold allocation sits at just 0.22% (Q3 2025 13F filings). The gap between what clients already own and what their advisors manage is the largest underdiscussed opportunity in private wealth.