I moved to Singapore at the start of 2014 to rebuild and grow StoneX’s precious metals franchise in Asia. StoneX enjoyed tremendous success in the period since, which benefitted, and coincided, with the “re-emergence” of SBMA. When I first arrived, there were far fewer active participants, both in number and the range of activities/services provided. People tended to be secretive and refrained from engaging through fear of competition and losing client flow. The bullion business was transacted and dominated by a handful of players and mainly financial institutions. Volumes that “touched” Singapore, however, were not significant.

In the years since, we have established a robust scalable ecosystem, which is capable of servicing the entire industry. In terms of behaviour, whilst there has been an ongoing technology push and a significant switch and boom in electronic trading, there remains an investor base wanting to own physical. This has been further complemented by a big expansion of the wealth management industry in Singapore, which has also raised awareness and interest in the merits of owning bullion as part of a diversified investment portfolio.

Reflecting on the past decade, some pivotal milestones shaped the Singapore bullion market. The addition of an LBMA-accredited gold refinery, Metalor Singapore, proved crucial and should not be underestimated. Its branded kilobar is globally recognised and KL Yap’s leadership has built trust and attracted bullion flows. SBMA’s first major milestone was to host its own bullion conference in the Lion City, catering specifically for ASEAN, which took place in 2017. It was natural for us to worry whether sufficient interest could be generated, but we were blown away by the response, which extended to delegates joining from 23 countries. SBMA had been very proactive in the years preceding the conference and undertaking numerous initiatives, but for me, our first Asia Pacific Precious Metals Conference in 2017 was the platform and international recognition that “launched” SBMA. Fast forward to 2024, the 7th APPMC is set to be bigger than ever, serving as a robust endorsement for the size, role, and reputation of the Singapore bullion market.

Undoubtedly, there have been challenges. COVID-19, while disrupting momentum, ultimately strengthened the Singapore community. With Asia’s significant role in physical bullion markets, SBMA emerged as a vital contact point for the global industry.