Anthony Allen Anderson is Senior Partner of GSI Exchange, an industry-leading coin and precious metals company specializing in the wholesale and direct trading of precious metals bullion and coins, and establishing physical gold and silver IRAs for clients.
A visionary leader in the precious metals industry, Anthony has contributed to GSI Exchange’s outsized growth and profitability since the company’s inception in 2014–averaging a three-year growth factor of over 3,800%.
Anthony Allen Anderson came to the helm at GSI Exchange as a financial industry veteran, working with Peter McKenna at Investors Business Daily, the late Russell Sands of Turtle Trader fame, and a number of top financial traders including Jon Najarian, Don Fishback, and Chuck Hughes (among others), where he gained in-depth and hands-on experience in the futures, options, and foreign exchange markets.
GSI Exchange marked a much-needed transition for both Anthony and the precious metals industry as a whole, as GSI Exchange, under Anthony’s leadership, quickly differentiated itself within the industry, providing customers with a cutting-edge suite of competitive products, comprehensive market information, and outstanding service.
GSI Exchange’s entry into the market began with Anthony’s efforts toward accumulating one of the largest networks of metals suppliers in the industry, a database that quickly surpassed those of other competing firms.
Not only does this wide network enable the company to have a much wider selection of products to bring to market, but it also allows GSI Exchange to operate in a manner that differentiates itself from the “one-size-fits-all” approach that Anthony sees as a major weakness among competing firms.
GSI Exchange’s focus on limited strike bullion and coins from a wide supplier database allows the company to provide customers with the highest quality silver, gold, palladium and platinum coins at prices far more favorable than its industry peers.
We recently spoke to Anthony Allen Anderson from GSI Exchange to learn more about his approach to managing one of the largest and most successful coin, bullion, and precious metals dealers in the United States, and how the global health crisis and profligate government spending has sparked a surge of investor interest in gold and silver.
How did COVID-19 pandemic impact your business and what steps did you take in response?
We immediately sent our workers home and organized twice daily digital meet-ups online to secure our network. The breakdown of the office environment is an abrupt disruption for any sales team. The camaraderie suffers when people don’t have the opportunity to collaborate in-office in real time, followed by fear and anxiety. Working through what I now consider to be standard mediums of communication like Zoom and online chat allows for a sense of togetherness that can fill the void of not being in the same room or office with your team. Organizing daily “group thinks” twice a day ensured our team was following the model set forth by senior leadership in a compliant fashion.
How do you see the future of remote working and remote learning affecting your business?
Remote working and e-learning present tremendous opportunities for financial services firms. Technology has allowed greater cooperation between colleagues in distant offices and instant information sharing of the latest business news affecting markets. We believe continuing education and training are essential for success in today’s competitive marketplace, and we have instituted various ways for our employees to access these resources at a time and place most convenient.
How has the recent movement toward greater diversity and inclusion for minorities affected your business planning?
We have always been an equal opportunity company. Our team includes people of multiple faiths, races, government officials and veterans of the United States Armed Forces. We provide a meritocracy which rewards top performers with unlimited opportunities for personal and professional growth.
What qualities and skills do you look for when hiring new talent?
Honesty and integrity are essential values when hiring new talent. We ask clients to trust us with their hard-earned savings and retirement investments, and in turn we need to have talent that is worthy of that trust and confidence.
What questions do you ask during an interview?
I like to ask questions that get insight into the personality of the individual we are looking to hire. I want people that fit into our culture and will be successful in a fast-paced competitive environment. Some questions I typically ask include:
- What are your greatest strengths?
- What are your greatest weaknesses?
- Where do you see yourself in three years?
- Would you rather work alone or with others?
- Why did you leave your last job (or why are you considering leaving)?
- What did you like most about your last job?
- What did you like least about your last job?
- What are your hobbies or outside interests?
How do you motivate your team for outstanding results?
Financial compensation is a powerful motivator and we are very generous to our employees. We also recognize top performers internally on our team calls and firmwide e-mail communications.
Why is Palm Beach Gardens, Florida a great place to live and work?
Earlier this year we moved from California to new state-of-the-art offices in Florida to support additional staff, expand inventory, and support a wholesale precious metals trading floor. We have a large customer base in Florida and it is a tax-friendly, retiree-friendly, and business-friendly destination. Palm Beach County enjoys an average daily temperature of 74 degrees and our offices are minutes away from some of the most beautiful beaches in America. Palm Beach Gardens elected leaders have embraced a pro-business climate that supports innovation and provides an atmosphere for businesses to succeed.
Florida’s population grew from 18.8 million residents in 2010 to 21.5 million in 2020 and we have seen even more dramatic growth during the pandemic, when many big East Coast and West Coast cities took draconian lockdown and quarantining measures. Florida has taken a thoughtful path to reopening that has helped make it a magnet for businesses and we are very happy to have our headquarters in the Sunshine State.
Why invest in gold and precious metals?
In times of uncertainty gold really shines. With the COVID-19 crisis, interest in gold has soared, driving its price to historic highs. Gold was a top-performing investment asset gaining 24 percent and beating the returns on high-yield and investment grade bonds, treasuries, all currencies and major stock indexes.
Concern about slowing growth globally, rising interest rates in the United States, inflation, and stock market volatility have resulted in increased interest in gold as a safe haven for investors.
A safe haven is an asset that holds its value in extreme, unexpected events.
It is different from a “safe asset” that provides a guaranteed return, such as government bonds. In buying such a bond you effectively lend money to the government in return for a promise it will repay that money (with interest) in the future. With the way the federal government is minting and spending money right now, there is no guarantee it will be able to repay its obligations many years into the future. The US is fighting over meeting its financial obligations right now.
Gold is a safe haven. Gold has been used since ancient times as a store of value. Helping it achieve this status is its aesthetic appeal, malleability (with a relatively low melting point making it easy to produce coins or jewelry), virtual indestructibility (almost all the gold that has ever been found or mined is still around) and, most importantly, rarity. Though hundreds of thousands have dug and panned for it over history, the amount of gold mined has never been enough to devalue it.
Because of these features, gold became the basis for money and played a formal monetary role during the gold standard, which required nations to hold gold reserves as a backing of their currency.
Central banks still hold huge gold reserves. Of 197,576 tonnes of gold mined throughout history, the World Gold Council says 17.2% is held (as bullion or coins) by governments and central banks, 21.6% by private investors, about 47% as jewelry, and 14.2% has gone to other uses (such as in electronics).
Gold is probably also a safe haven because it is simple and well-known, the first thing that comes to mind when investors are faced with extreme uncertainty, and right now we are faced with extreme uncertainty. There is room in every well-diversified portfolio for an allocation to gold and silver. Our investment management team has over 75 years of combined market experience and relationships with most of the biggest suppliers around the world.
We have experience successfully placing more than $1 billion in commodities and precious metals transactions around the world, and an almost unlimited inventory of the highest-quality silver, gold, palladium, and platinum coins at the most competitive prices.
Published December 19th, 2021