Located near Singapore’s airport is a six-story building called “The Reserve”, where gold and silver bars worth approximately US$1.5 billion are stored.

The facility includes numerous private vaults and a towering storage chamber lined with thousands of safe deposit boxes, stretching three stories high.

In the first four months this year it saw an an 88% surge in orders to store gold and silver compared to the same period in 2024, said its founder Gregor Gregersen.

The Reserve, which also sells gold and silver bars, reported a 200% year-on-year increase in precious metals bar sales during this time.

“A lot of very high net worth clients are looking at tariffs, looking at the world changing, looking at the potential of geopolitical instabilities,” Gregersen told CNBC.

“The idea of putting physical metal in a safe jurisdiction like Singapore with parties they can trust is becoming a big trend nowadays,” he said, noting that 90% of new orders originate from outside Singapore.

Gold prices have soared recently, with bullion hitting consecutive record highs this year, driven partly by its safe-haven status amid volatility from U.S.-China trade tensions.

Spot gold, now trading at around $3,300, is expected to reach $3,400 in short-term, according to to Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, as reported by Reuters.

U.S.-based bank JP Morgan expects bullion to reach $4,000 per ounce next year.

The wealthy are increasingly favoring physical gold bars over paper gold to minimize counterparty and geopolitical risks, Gregersen said.

Previous crises heightened investors’ preference for physically owning or securely allocating specific gold bars, rather than relying on paper claims or stakes in pooled reserves, which could be jeopardized if a bank fails, said Nicky Shiels, head of research and metals strategy at MKS Pamp, a precious metals refining and trading firm.

Singapore, therefore, comes into the spotlight for gold reserves amid economic uncertainties.

“Singapore is viewed as the ‘Geneva of the East’; it has a reputation as a safe jurisdiction with relative political and economic stability,” Shiels told CNBC.

As a major transit hub, Singapore is also a convenient and attractive location for the wealthy to store their gold.

“You can bank, you can store your gold there, but you can also pick it up (easily) because it’s a transit hub. And this is where Switzerland is losing out,” Shiels added.