Page 59 - Introduction to investing in Gold

There are several things to consider when choosing a broker, but let’s keep it really simple:
1.What do you want to buy? If you’re looking to buy physical gold, you’ll need a different broker to one who can help you buy mining shares.
2.If you want to buy mining shares, can they buy the ones that you want?
This is where a lot of people get caught out. They sign up with a broker, pay any fees that are due, and then select their mining stocks. If you pick producers (which tend to be larger companies), there’s a good chance a broker will cover them. But if you go for a junior minor (especially if it’s listed in a different country), they may not.
Some brokers don’t trade all the mining stocks, so if you end up selecting stocks which you can’t buy through your broker, you’re stuck.
I appreciate you won’t know about all the stocks you plan to buy from the outset, but I’d suggest you run four or five smaller companies that you might be interested in past your broker. If you can trade them all, you’re probably speaking to the right person. However, if there are some you can’t trade, you may want to look elsewhere.
If you look at the TSXV or ASX and pick some smaller companies with market values of less than, say, $15m, that should give you a feel for what they can and can’t trade.
I use Interactive Investor, but this is very much a personal decision. You should carry out your own due diligence before deciding which broker to use.
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