Physical capacity is finite, insurance has repriced, and the volume of metal being moved from unallocated arrangements into segregated allocated accounts has grown faster than the vault estate.
The questions worth asking
Where exactly is the metal, in whose name, with what bar list, audited by whom and on what frequency, and what happens to the arrangement if the custodian is acquired. Anyone who cannot answer those in writing is selling a promise rather than a service.
The cost of getting it wrong
Unallocated is credit exposure dressed as ownership. That is acceptable if it is priced and understood, and dangerous when it is not.
