Hard Assets Alliance is a company that specializes in precious metals investments. Of course, there are many companies in this industry, and not all of them are as legitimate as one might hope. As such, it's a good idea to stop and determine whether this company is actually legitimate or whether it is simply trying to scam customers out of their hard-earned money.
The good news here is that Hard Assets Alliance doesn't seem to be a scam. While the company is at least legitimate, that does not necessarily mean that you want to work with them. The company appears to have several complaints against them from various consumers. We'll cover to good and bad about this firm in this review.
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About Hard Assets Alliance
Precious metals have become many investors' essential hedge against inflation and market volatility. As the price of these metals increases, many consumers have noticed that they make an excellent place to keep money even when the stock market seems to be falling apart.
Gold and silver also seem quite attractive during times of inflation. Even as the dollar's value drops, the price of these metals rises. This means that your investments won't simply depreciate in value just because of the movement of the dollar.
Whether it's because of economic uncertainty, hedges against the future, or just investor education, many people are turning towards these precious metals as ways to keep their money safe. That, in theory, is where Hard Assets Alliance comes into the story.
Less a company than a group of firms, Hard Assets Alliance claims to provide metals to its client base through the use of the SmartMetals online market. The goal here is to make buying and selling metals easy enough that anyone can participate in the market and to ensure that investors will get a chance to buy precious metals at something as close as possible to the actual market price of those products.
Hard Assets Alliance does seem like it wants to do it all. Not only can customers buy and sell on the market, but the company provides services like precious metals storage and even international shipping. Hard Assets Alliance also allows customers to set up their own precious metals IRAs and more traditional investment accounts. In fact, everything that one might need to do with precious metals can be done through this company.
More Details About the Company
Unfortunately, it's hard to find definitive information about Hard Assets Alliance. This is partially because the company is actually made up of a group of about sixty other companies. At the same time, though, its corporation is separate from those companies.
The significant number of companies involved in Hard Assets Alliance makes it very difficult to figure out who runs the company. You will not, for example, find out much about who founded this organization, and you'll have to do more research than you might like to figure out which companies are actually involved in the Hard Assets Alliance.
Now, this isn't necessarily something that needs to set off alarm bells for every company. For example, if a company had an excellent reputation, it wouldn't be unusual for them to focus more on promoting its various products than the individuals running the show.
Unfortunately, though, Hard Assets Alliance doesn't have an excellent reputation. There are plenty of complaints about not only customer service issues but also the various policies that the company has in place. With this in mind, it makes the company look quite untrustworthy when it tries to hide who is in charge.
While it is hard to figure out which people are involved with the company, we know some of the companies involved. These companies include Agora Financial, Cambridge House, Peak Prosperity, Rich Dad, and StreetWise Reports. Gold Bullion International is also the company that powers the company's marketplace.
Frankly, it's tough to figure out exactly what each company involved with Hard Assets Alliance does. Some might work with Gold Bullion International, for example, while having little else to do with the company as a whole.
Benefits of Investing with HAA
Hard Assets Alliance is a player in the precious metals field, buying, selling, and storing precious metals. The company touts its ability to help investors stabilize their investments and to create more diverse investment portfolios at a bargain price.
Everything that Hard Assets Alliance says about the precious metals market is true. It is pretty helpful for diversifying a portfolio and works as a good backstop against various economical problems.
However, where things fall apart is with the company's claims about its role in investment. It does not, for example, offer prices that are the cheapest available, and it certainly doesn't provide more for customers for a lower price.
Hard Assets Alliance wants its customers to believe they are a top-tier company operating at the lowest possible prices. If accepted, this company would be revolutionizing the world of precious metals investing. In reality, though, many other companies simply do a better job than this one.
Products Available
Hard Assets Alliance offers four different precious metals on its marketplace. While it provides both palladium and platinum, most of its products are gold or silver.
Gold
Hard Assets Alliance offers several different gold bars at various weights. You can buy bars that weigh as little as an ounce or as much as a kilogram.
The marketplace also offers several gold coins, each of which is a single ounce. It should be noted that these are investment coins rather than collector coins. The coins are available in several different currency types, ranging from Buffalo Nickels to South African coinage.
Silver
The silver offerings from the marketplace are significantly heavier than the gold ones, starting at one hundred ounces and going up to a thousand ounces. Given the relative volatility of silver, these weights are a fairly solid investment for those willing to take some small risks.
It should be noted that silver is a reasonably popular investment because of its use in a variety of different types of industries. Given its prevalence in industries like medical manufacturing and even smartphone construction, the odds of it rising in price continue to go up.
If you're not looking for bars, you can buy silver in various coin styles from Hard Assets Alliance. The company makes purchasing bulk amounts of silver coins reasonably easy, which is another solid option for investors.
Platinum and Palladium
Unfortunately, you won't find palladium or platinum coins in the marketplace. If you choose to invest in these metals, you'll have to buy one-ounce bars instead.
Pricing
It is important to note that Hard Assets Alliance is not a dealer but a marketplace. That means that when you buy any precious metals, you're actually buying from any one of several different dealers.
If you choose to buy precious metals in this marketplace, you will see several different dealers competing for your money. They actually place bids for individual orders, each trying to provide the lowest price to attract customers. This does not, however, mean that the prices you get here are always the lowest.
The truth is that there is always a solid floor regarding precious metal prices. While there's markup that can certainly be found in terms of pricing, dealers also have to profit from their sales. In the marketplace, this means that dealers almost certainly work together to set a minimum price for their sales.
The bad news is that you will not pay the market price on the Hard Assets Alliance marketplace. The good news is that the markup isn't as bad as expected. Bids keep markup low, just not as low as one might hope.
So, what should you expect to pay? You'll pay about three percent above the market for an ounce of metal, with the markup dropping for the more metals that you buy. This certainly isn't one of the highest levels of markup that you are likely to find amount dealers, but it's far from the lowest.
It should be noted that the actual price of dealing with metals doesn't just have to do with what you pay upfront. For example, you will need to pay maintenance and storage fees if you have an IRA. As such, you should research your total costs before you decide on buying any products from this marketplace.
Types of Accounts
Opening up any kind of account with Hard Assets Reviews starts by verifying that you are who you say you are. Once that's done, you can fund your account and get access to the company's marketplace.
Once you have your identity verified, you can choose one of several different types of accounts. These include individual or joint accounts, corporate accounts, or retirement accounts. Hard Asset Alliance provides just about every type of account you could want for metals investing, with most choosing either personal or retirement accounts.
If you choose a retirement account, you'll have to make sure that your account meets the IRS standards for investing. That means you'll not only have to make sure that you pay to have your items stored but also that you keep your items stored in specific, approved facilities.
Complaints
There are a number of complaints against Hard Assets Alliance that are relatively easy to find if you look at the Better Business Bureau's website or if you peruse Trustpilot. It seems that many customers have had significant issues with this company.
The biggest complaint by far is that Hard Assets Alliance is not transparent about how they do business. It's hard to find out which companies are part of the alliance and who is actually in charge of each part of the business. If you have a problem, it's virtually impossible to know who to contact.
The other big issue is that it's hard to figure out why the company works with specific dealers. It's hard to determine if a dealer is part of the Hard Assets Alliance or just someone affiliated with the marketplace, for example, and it's hard to determine if any vetting has been done regarding the trustworthiness of any dealers.
That lack of transparency also impacts the fee structure of the company. Many hidden fees are involved in doing business with Hard Assets Alliance, many of which feel unnecessary for the industry.
Some consumers have also complained about the company's customer service. It takes quite a long time to get questions answered, and often those answers aren't satisfactory to the consumer.
Taken as a whole, the complaints create an image of a company that charges more for doing less and isn't honest about who they are. Do with that information as you'd like.
Final Verdict
In a perfect world, Hard Assets Alliance would leverage the strength of its parts to benefit the customer. In reality, it creates another marketplace that tends to cause more problems than it solves.
It's almost certainly a good idea to work with a company with a better reputation than Hard Assets Alliance. No matter why you invest, you'll want to work with a company that can meet your needs.
There are over a thousand of precious metals companies, and you want to find the absolute best. Our team has researched all of these firms and have narrowed the list down to 5. See below to learn more.
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