Australians save for retirement through superannuation, a compulsory system whereby employers are required to contribute 9.5 per cent of an employee’s income into an individual retirement account that an employee can direct to be invested in a range of assets. The Australian superannuation system was introduced in 1992, and today Australia has the fourth largest pension fund assets in the world, with around AU$2.9 trillion of assets under management. Precious metals, including platinum, can be included in a superannuation investment portfolio.
ABC Bullion is Australasia’s largest independent bullion dealer and the only independent bullion dealer in Australia to have full London Bullion Market Association membership. ABC Bullion already provides investors with a wide range of investment-grade gold and silver products and has launched a new range of platinum bullion bars – the first Australian platinum minted bar range. Eligible bars in the range meet the good delivery requirements of the London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM).
The LPPM is the major trading centre for platinum bullion. It operates the Good Delivery List, which sets out the minimum standards for platinum traded across its market. Refiners of platinum must satisfy stringent requirements to be accepted on to the List, and platinum bars must conform to strict criteria which govern purity and size, including markings detailing fineness and weight. At 999.5 fine and produced using the latest in international minting technologies, the ABC Bullion Platinum Minted Bar Range is offered in six weights from 1 oz to 1 kg, providing investors, including those looking to diversify their superannuation portfolio, a flexible and accessible way of gaining exposure to precious platinum.
Each ABC Bullion platinum bar is delivered with a serial numbered certificate guaranteeing origin, assayed fine precious metals content, weight and quality.
Why platinum bullion?
As a rare metal with unique properties, in demand as both an industrial and precious metal, platinum is attractive as a long-term store of value.
Platinum bars and coins are a consistent platinum demand source, with this year seeing unprecedented levels of interest as investors turn to hard assets in the wake of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As well as accessibility and liquidity, investing in platinum bullion in the form of bars and coins can be attractive to investors as it carries no credit or counterparty risk, unlike stocks or bonds. Platinum’s current discount to other precious metals has also proved to be an attractive entry point for certain investors.
Increasingly, platinum’s ‘green’ credentials are attracting interest from investors. Platinum stands to play a significant role in decarbonisation, with its catalytic properties key to unlocking the hydrogen economy through the production of green hydrogen from renewable sources, as well as its use in fuel cells in trucks and cars. Platinum is used in the electrolysis of water using renewable energy to produce green hydrogen and the current EU and China green hydrogen generation capacity targets alone would require, cumulatively, over 600 koz* of platinum by 2030.
