You can contact SBI main branch of a city or any branch of Kaarvy www.kaarvy.com or Sharekhan www.sharekhan.com by phone. they have their branch in all big and small cities. They will send their agent to you. Be sure to ask specifically for SBI GETS (SBI Gold Exchange Traded Scheme)
Details:
Gold has been treasured as a valuable commodity for as
long as one can remember. With the shifting sands of time, it has evolved as an important asset class. From barter trade to jewellery investment and now paper gold, the sheen continues and its universal appeal is intact. Gold has proven to be a safe-haven investment option not only because of it being a hedge against inflation but also due to its low correlation with other asset classes such as equity and debt. Gold has provided annualised returns of 19% over the past 10 years vis-à-vis 17% by the S&P CNX Nifty. It has also given positive returns for every calendar year for over a decade. In India, where gold buying is an integral part of social and religious customs, investors now have the option of buying gold in dematerialised or paper form. Paper gold not only offers the convenience of holding the yellow metal in an electronic form with greater price transparency and purity but also negates the risk of storage and theft. Further, with the launch of the CRISIL Gold Index, investors now have a standard benchmark for gold prices in India.
Three paper gold options in India
Gold ETFs - are passively managed mutual funds that invest in standard gold bullion (99.5% purity). Investment in gold ETFs requires opening a demat account with a broker registered with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) or the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The expense structure for gold ETFs is in the range of 0.5-0.75%.
As per the performance of Gold ETFs and their charges, 'SBI Gold Exchange Traded Scheme' is a good option.
Gold mutual funds - are fund of funds (FoFs) that invest the corpus in either their own gold ETFs or a foreign gold fund which is the mother fund. Gold mutual funds provide investors the facility of systematic investment plans (SIP) wherein they may invest in gold regularly and avail benefits of rupee cost averaging, i.e. buying more units when prices are low and less units when prices are high. The expense structure for gold FoFs is in the range of 1.5-2.25%.
E-gold - Avoid. It is a product launched by the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL wherein gold can be purchased in the electronic form in denominations as small as 1 gram and can also be converted into physical gold. This shoul be avoided as a big scam is uncovered in NSEL http://www.livemint.com/Money/vaYnDgH77cyWtWXFbO1etO/Investors-Grievances-Forum-files-complaint-against-NSEL-wit.html
Why is gold popular?
Hedge against inflation - Gold has demonstrated its ability to generate returns higher than inflation and thereby acting as a strong hedge
Safe haven investment - Gold is considered as a safe haven asset to invest in times of uncertainty on two counts, one, it has given positive year-on-year returns in the past 11 years and two, other asset classes have been more volatile with equity, debt even giving negative returns in some years .
| Table 1 Performance of gold, equity and debt | |||||||||||
Asset Class
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
| Gold |
4.82
|
23.27
|
15.77
|
0
|
21.41
|
21.77
|
17.15
|
28.04
|
20.99
|
23.44
|
32.53
|
Equity
|
-16.18
|
3.25
|
71.9
|
10.68
|
36.34
|
39.83
|
54.77
|
-51.79
|
75.76
|
17.95
|
-24.62
|
Debt
|
25.25
|
21.66
|
11.54
|
-2.87
|
5.71
|
5.01
|
6.8
|
23.22
|
-6.37
|
6.18
|
5.05
|
Comments