MPF should be allowed to invest in gold
With the price of gold hitting record levels this year, the Mandatory Provident Fund should be allowed to invest in it as well as equities, a leading gold trader said.
Padraig Seif is an officer of OLZ Hong Kong, a lawyer and chairman of the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
“With all the instability in the U.S. and Europe, the price of gold will go up. It was US$2,000 an ounce in January 2024,” he said. On March 27, it hit a record high of US$3,059.3 an ounce. “Some say it will hit US$4,000.”
He was giving a speech at the Our Hong Kong Foundation about his remarkable life.
He was born in Frankfurt. His father worked for German chemical giant BASF and his mother was Irish. He spent his childhood and education in the two countries. His Irish family lived in a small village in County Carlow. He attended a boarding school in Ireland.
He holds degrees from Passau University in Germany and King’s College London and St Anne’s College Oxford. He is a fully licenced German attorney and English solicitor.
He started his career in Frankfurt as a lawyer in the capital markets, working on billion-dollar deals. Then, after financial crash of 2008, the capital markets collapsed and he lost his job.
He flew to Singapore to try his luck. He worked in a small legal firm, restructuring capital market products. In 2012, he paid his first visit to Hong Kong and started trading gold.
During an early visit, he went to Wanchai and woke up the next morning without his wallet, which contained his Singapore identity card. To return to Singapore, he needed a report from the Hong Kong police of the loss. Two weeks later the police found the wallet – without the money but with the ID card – and posted it to him.
“I took to Hong Kong like a duck to water. I loved the diversity of people and the interaction,” he said. He lived for the first nine years in a hotel – the longest time he had lived in a single place.
He has three jobs – running a business trading gold bullion, working at Boase Cohen & Collins, a law firm, and working in asset management.
“The Greater Bay Area is one of the biggest jewellery production areas in the world. You can buy gold as a gift or jewellery or physical gold in bars, delivered to your home, a bank deposit box or storage facility. I knew an Australian pilot who kept 100 kg of gold in his kitchen cabinet.
“In Switzerland, the government has sold bunkers. Some are used now to store gold or as data centres. Gold trading is a very important business in Hong Kong.” Cathy Pacific flights to Zurich carry bars of gold and millions of dollars.
“Gold gives you independence from currencies, governments and politics,” he said.
Asked about President Donald Trump and his tariffs, Seif said that Ireland was vulnerable. “All the big high-tech and pharmaceutical companies there are American and it is a major export market. Ireland’s response has to be through the EU.
“Trump’s policies will lead to a long-term realignment of supply chains. Irish whiskey distillers are now looking at markets in Asia,” he said.
He was full of praise for Hong Kong and said that, to remain competitive, it must remain distinctive from the mainland.
“We have the common law system, the English language and no sales, capital gains or inheritance taxes. We have free movement of capital, an open Internet and free access to information. There are no restrictions on foreigners forming associations.”
He praised its safety and efficient logistics centre, with its port, airport and connections to China. “I hope the Hong Kong government will maintain all this.”
He said that, in Hong Kong, nationality did not play a role. “All over Asia, there are restrictions in areas like who can own land, start a company or obtain a bank loan, but not here.”
He said that there was no segregation in Hong Kong, with everyone mixing together. “In Singapore, there were different Christmas parties for Singaporeans and expats. Chinese mix with Chinese, Muslims with Muslims and Indians with Indians. In Dubai, also, there is segregation. Hong Kong is like London and Dublin.”
“I call it my home. I never get bored. There are always interesting people to meet and plenty to enjoy. I want to stay to be part of it.”
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