The channels for individual leveraged gold speculation are rapidly narrowing. As international gold prices experience wide fluctuations, more than ten banks have issued announcements in quick succession, gradually shutting down their agency authority for individual precious metals deferred trading on the Shanghai Gold Exchange. While speculative gold trading channels continue to contract, gold-linked products within the banking system are taking a completely different trajectory. On one hand, major banks are rolling out fee reduction campaigns for gold accumulation products; on the other hand, the issuance of gold-themed bank wealth management products continues to meet with a cold reception. Dong Ximiao, chief economist at Zhaolian, told reporters that this year's "hot gold accumulation, cold gold wealth management" phenomenon in bank channels appears to be a product-level difference, but in essence reflects a proactive trade-off between risk attribution and banks' operational strategies.
After leveraged gold speculation gradually exits the stage, facing a wide array of investment tools such as gold accumulation products, gold ETFs, physical gold, and gold-themed wealth management products, how should ordinary investors find a allocation approach that suits them?
Leveraged gold speculation cools down
For some time, individual precious metals deferred trading agency services provided by banks were an important channel for ordinary investors to speculate on gold. Through deferred contracts such as Au (T+D) and Ag (T+D) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, investors could use leverage to amplify gains from gold price movements. However, this year has seen a concentrated withdrawal of individual leveraged precious metals services. According to official announcements, Everbright Bank will suspend its agency services for individual precious metals on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after October 19 at an appropriate time, covering contract varieties including Au99.99, Au100g, iAu99.99, iAu100g, and Ag (T+D). After the closing settlement on October 19, the bank will close trading permissions for its agency Shanghai Gold Exchange individual precious metals services through mobile banking, online banking, and other channels at an appropriate time, at which point position-holding customers will face restrictions on closing positions and selling. Prior to this, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank had already suspended related trading channels after September 25 at an appropriate time. In June and July, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and China Merchants Bank密集 issued announcements, successively closing online and offline trading entry points and setting deadlines for customers to close positions. Even earlier in February, Postal Savings Bank announced that it would officially implement the clearance on March 17, executing forced liquidation on overdue open positions. Combined with the implementation of new regulations on derivatives and investor suitability, more than ten state-owned major banks and joint-stock banks have successively exited the individual leveraged gold speculation sector during the year.
The reasons for this round of concentrated clearance stem from multiple factors including market risk, regulatory requirements, and business cost-effectiveness. Dong Ximiao told reporters that gold wealth management returns are not simply linked to gold prices but depend on the gold exposure ratio, the quality of the fixed-income base, and the options structure. High exposure leads to larger drawdowns during corrections, different base position coupon safety cushions, and options structures that perform very differently under various market trends, resulting in significant performance gaps between similar products at the top and bottom, rising management difficulty and reputational risk. The timing of issuance greatly affects performance -- products established at high gold prices have higher position-building costs and thinner safety cushions, and only batch position-building after a correction may offer cost advantages. The current wide fluctuations and unclear direction make institutions inclined to wait for a better window.
Examining from a longer time perspective, this round of comprehensive clearance is also an inevitable result of years of continuous risk management implementation. In earlier years, during a gold bull market, many banks actively promoted precious metals services, and many ordinary investors were drawn by promotions of "small capital for high returns," entering the market with tens of thousands in principal to bet on gold price movements. In 2020, the pandemic hit global markets, international gold prices experienced drastic fluctuations, and combined with derivative risks exposed by the crude oil treasure incident, the market sounded alarm bells. On November 27 of that year, six major banks -- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and China Merchants Bank -- simultaneously announced the suspension of new customer account opening for account precious metals and agency Shanghai Gold Exchange precious metals services, with the core purpose of preventing margin call risks under extreme market conditions and protecting ordinary investors. In 2022, regulators continued to standardize derivative businesses, and mainstream banks comprehensively stopped new account openings for Shanghai Gold Exchange individual precious metals services, simultaneously clearing dormant accounts with no positions, no inventory, and no debt to reduce potential dispute risks from sleeping accounts. At the beginning of this year, the Shanghai Gold Exchange decided to shut down all-category bidding trading for individual customers, blocking the channel for retail investors to participate in leveraged trading from the exchange level.
Resident allocation channels broaden
While leveraged channels exit, the path for residents to allocate gold has actually become wider. During gold price corrections, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China CITIC Bank, Bank of Nanjing, and others集中 launched limited-time gold accumulation fee promotions. For example, ICBC reduced its active accumulation fee from 0.5% to zero, with regular investment plans also free of charge; Bank of China designated Fridays as discount days with per-gram discounts on single transactions; Bank of Nanjing pushed the purchase fee down to 0.01%. Gold accumulation products have low thresholds and support regular investment, transforming gold from a "one-shot deal" into an asset allocation that can be accumulated over the long term.
Interestingly, among bank-linked gold products, performance has been hot and cold. While gold accumulation promotions continue to intensify, gold-linked wealth management products have encountered cold reception in issuance. According to China Wealth Management Network, as of mid-October, there were 55 outstanding bank wealth management products with "gold" in their names, with samples including products issued by bank wealth management subsidiaries and foreign banks, merely a drop in the ocean among over 50,000 outstanding wealth management products. This year's gold-themed wealth management issuance pace shows a clear front-loaded pattern, with new product establishment reaching its annual peak in January, but very few wealth management products launched in the second half. According to China Wealth Management Network data, it was not until September 16 that Beiyin Wealth Management's Spring Series Mouding Stop-Profit No. 43 (gold-themed direction) was officially established, breaking this round of issuance silence. Shortly after, the same series' new product Spring Series Mouding Stop-Profit No. 44 began fundraising on October 15 and is expected to be officially established on October 27.
Why does this phenomenon occur? Dong Ximiao told reporters that it essentially comes down to risk attribution and institutional operational strategy trade-offs. Gold accumulation products are directly held by investors, with gold price fluctuation risk borne by customers themselves, while banks only provide trading services and earn fees, resulting in lower compliance pressure. Gold wealth management products, however, are mostly structured as fixed-incomeplus gold derivatives, and under a volatile gold price environment, net value fluctuation pressure is greater, with wealth management institutions bearing heavier management responsibilities. When the direction of gold prices is unclear, institutions tend to be cautious about issuance, and resources naturally tilt toward gold accumulation products with more controllable risks.
For ordinary investors, gold accumulation is not the only tool for allocating gold -- they can choose suitable channels based on their own capital situation and investment objectives. Dong Ximiao suggests controlling the gold allocation ratio at 5% to 15% of a household's investable assets. He recommends淡化 single-point timing and adopting regular investment or batch buying to smooth costs, avoiding heavy one-time positions when institutional opinions diverge greatly. At the same time, investors need to pay attention to the hidden costs of various gold products. Many products advertise "zero purchase fee," but zero subscription fee does not mean no cost -- spreads, physical withdrawal fees, redemption timing, and position-related fees all need to be included in comprehensive consideration.
Multiple institutions have divergent views on the gold price outlook. Qu Rui, senior deputy director of the Research and Development Department at Orient Financial Credit, believes international gold prices may fluctuate in the $4,000 to $4,300 range in the short term, with valuation repair expected in the latter part of the fourth quarter; Goldman Sachs maintains its target of $5,400 per ounce by the end of 2027. For ordinary investors, rather than betting on one-directional gold price movements, it is better to treat gold as an asset allocation component, choosing investment channels and deploying in batches based on their own capital characteristics and investment needs, giving play to gold's role as an asset "ballast stone."
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