A directly-titled physical reserve.
Sized to the foundation.
For households allocating $250,000 to $499,000 to a directly-titled physical precious-metals reserve. The same architectural commitments as the private-client tiers — Strategy Brief, allocated and segregated custody at the three-facility US panel, named refiner provenance, two transparent line items — sized to the foundation of the stack. The engagement grows into Strategic Reserve, Private Reserve, or Family Reserve as the allocation grows.
Foundation Reserve is the engagement structured for households allocating $250,000 to $499,000 to a directly-titled physical precious-metals reserve. The same architectural commitments that apply at every Office tier — named refiner provenance, allocated and segregated custody, the reviewed Strategy Brief, two transparent line items, and the exit posture written before the entry — apply here. The engagement is sized to the foundation of the stack.
The Office takes Foundation Reserve engagements with the same structural treatment as the private-client tiers because the questions are the same. Whether the reserve is $300,000 or $3,000,000, the situation must be framed, the allocation must be considered against the broader portfolio, the custody must be architected, the form must be selected for the holding period, the titling must be coordinated, the implementation must be sequenced, the exit must be written, and the open questions must be named. The brief is the same eight sections; the allocation and the form mix scale to the engagement.
Custody at this tier defaults to the Utah-based Precious Metals Vault — operationally responsive (the metal is held at the facility, so sells settle without inter-facility movement), fully insured under all-risk coverage, with the negotiated wholesale rate passed through to the client without markup — with IDS or Brinks available on request and framed alongside it in §03 of the brief. Form composition leans toward kilo gold and sovereign bullion coinage; Good Delivery formats become practical above $1,000,000. As the allocation grows, the engagement moves into Strategic Reserve, Private Reserve, or Family Reserve without re-starting the relationship.
The deliverable, specified.
Named on the marketing page. Contracted at intake. Delivered in writing.
- ✓The same Strategy Brief
The reviewed Physical Reserve Strategy Brief — situation framing, allocation, custody, form, titling, implementation, exit posture, open questions. Same structure, same depth, same review process. Sized to the engagement.
- ✓Single-facility custody default at the Utah-based Precious Metals Vault
The most cost-efficient and operationally responsive option in the three-facility US panel. Allocated and segregated; all metals fully insured under all-risk coverage. IDS or Brinks available on request.
- ✓Named refiner provenance
Metal sourced through direct counterparty relationships with Argor-Heraeus, MKS PAMP, or Valcambi — named on the bar and in the documentation chain. Sovereign bullion coinage from the major mints (US Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint, Austrian Mint, Royal Mint, South African Mint) where divisibility is needed.
- ✓Transparent pricing — two line items, brief included
A competitive wholesale spread on the metal (buy and sell, named in writing by format) plus a vaulting rate at the chosen facility (negotiated at company level, passed through to the client without markup). The Strategy Brief, custody coordination, complete documentation chain, and the first year of review are included with the engagement. No AUM percentage, no separate brief fee, no performance fee.
- ✓Founder-led engagement
The brief is written and reviewed by a founding partner. The intake conversation, the consultation, and the implementation move through the same hands. Continuity is deliberate, not aspirational.
- ✓Designed to grow
The engagement is structured as the foundation of the allocation, not a smaller version of a private-client engagement. As the reserve scales, the relationship moves into Strategic Reserve, Private Reserve, or Family Reserve without re-starting from intake.
The architecture is the same. The envelope is sized to the engagement.
What this engagement looks like.
- Why is there a separate tier for $250K–$499K?
- Below the Strategic Reserve floor of $500,000, the engagement still benefits from the full architectural treatment, but the practical composition narrows — at $250,000 a directly-titled reserve is mostly kilo gold and sovereign coinage, not the Good Delivery / kilo / coinage mix that becomes available at higher scale. Foundation Reserve is the explicitly-named tier for households whose allocation sits in that range. The same brief, the same custody panel, the same pricing model.
- Is the brief actually the same eight sections?
- Yes. Situation framing, allocation, custody, form, titling, implementation, exit posture, open questions — every section is on the page. The structural work to write a defensible reserve brief is the same whether the allocation is $300,000 or $3,000,000; the allocation, form composition, and custody choices simply scale to the engagement.
- What does "default to the Utah-based Precious Metals Vault" mean?
- At Foundation Reserve, the Office's recommended starting custody architecture is single-facility allocated and segregated storage at the Utah-based Precious Metals Vault — operationally responsive (the metal is held at the facility, so sells settle without inter-facility movement), with all metals fully insured under all-risk coverage and the negotiated wholesale rate passed through to the client without markup. IDS or Brinks are available on request and framed alongside it in §03 of the brief. The choice can be revisited as circumstances change.
- How does the engagement grow into Strategic Reserve as my allocation grows?
- When the reserve crosses $500,000 — through additional acquisition, market appreciation, or a combination — the engagement moves into Strategic Reserve. The brief is updated rather than re-written; the custody architecture can be expanded across the panel; the form mix is reconsidered; the review cadence and titling work are revisited. The relationship is continuous; the tier label changes when the structure of the work meaningfully changes.
- How is Foundation Reserve different from a Reserve IRA?
- A Reserve IRA is a retirement account: an IRS-approved physical-metals position held through a self-directed IRA custodian inside a tax-advantaged retirement structure, with the metal at an IRS-approved depository. Foundation Reserve is a directly-titled non-retirement reserve — owned in your name (or your trust's name), accessible without IRA distribution rules, and titled wherever your estate plan calls for. The architectural commitments are the same; the legal structure is different.
- How does the architecture at Foundation Reserve compare to the firms that advertise nationally?
- The architectural commitments named on this page apply at Foundation Reserve exactly as they apply at Family Reserve: refiner provenance (Argor-Heraeus, MKS PAMP, Valcambi), allocated and segregated US-domestic depository custody, no numismatic product by specification, two transparent line items in pricing, written exit posture before entry. The minimum is different; the architecture is not. /standards documents the standing rules; /comparison maps where the Office sits relative to the broader landscape.
Begin where you are. Move when the allocation grows.
The reviewed Strategy Brief is delivered within five business days of intake. The engagement reads from there: a single document the household, its counsel, and its wealth advisor can read against the same language.
The metal is yours — not a fund’s, not a claim on any counterparty.
Reviewed brief delivered in five business days of intake. The engagement structure is named in the brief — you proceed only if both fit your situation.
The Office accepts a small number of new engagements each quarter. Selection is by considered fit, not by pace of inbound.