New Years’s Interview 2022

Dear Auvesta customer,
In this New Year's interview Dr. Franz Hölzl, CEO of Auvesta Edelmetalle AG, talks in detail about current developments around the topics of finance, politics, precious metals and security at Auvesta.

You will not only learn which developments will strongly influence the silver market in the future, but also how Auvesta is preparing for a total blackout and cyber attacks.

How to read the interview:
You can read this interview chronologically from front to back. If you want to read through the interview several times, you can also click on the jump markers of the topics. (See the following page)

We hope that you will enjoy reading and get new insights!

Happy New Year
Your Auvesta 

Jump markers
Developments on the financial market in 2021 and 2022 »
Winners of a possible inflation in the eurozone in 2022 »
The "new" granary of North Africa – Increasing demand for silver »
"We didn't know!" 2021, the year of the awards »
Insolvency, blackouts and cyberattacks: Auvesta customers are protected »
This is the focus of Auvesta in 2022 »

Dr. Hölzl, how do you rate the general development on the financial markets in 2021 and 2022?
Dr. Hölzl:
The development on the financial markets is determined by two topics. The first is, was and will be for the coming years: The flooding of the financial markets with cheap money by the central banks.
This is because politicians and central banks are afraid that if liquidity is too low, economic output will decline and prosperity will shrink. Therefore, demagogues could gain the political upper hand. We now have a situation that has not been seen for decades, in which money is so cheap for governments that it does not burden budgets, but only costs redemption and no interest.
Basically, debts accepted in the past are never repaid in terms of purchasing power, but only in terms of the amount. This means that the money borrowed must be repaid, but only at the same nominal (!) amount.
If the inflation per year is 2 % - I know we are already above that at the moment - but if you take this long-term statistical average of 2%, we have a halving of the purchasing power in about 17 to 18 years. In other words, in 17 to 18 years we will no longer have to pay back the purchasing power that we have borrowed today, but only the nominal amount.
The only risk is that politicians will continue to incur new debts after the end of the exceptional situation and overstretching the system in the process.

Who are the winners of a possible inflation in 2022 and following?
Dr. Hölzl:
Without exception, the winners are those who have material assets, i.e. real estates, company shareholdings or precious metals. The classic material assets will win!
I also say this: these engagements (meaning material assets) will not increase in value. I do not expect an increase in value. Inflation means that the money loses its value. The material value is real. If someone wants to buy my material asset and I shall sell it, then the other person must put so much money on the table that the loss of purchasing power is compensated.

You talked about two points that are currently important in 2022? The first was the flooding of the financial markets with money. What is the second point?
Dr. Hölzl:
We have a second aspect. Actually, this is the economy. The transformation of the economy to ecology, to sustainable energy production.
The world's hunger for energy has drastically increased in recent years. However, we have something that was not even conceivable at that time.

"The new granary of North Africa" thanks to solar energy?
We have solar energy. In my opinion, solar energy will have a variety of effects on ecology, climate and economy. Not only in the developed industrialized countries. We will see that the "Maghreb" countries in North Africa will start desalinating seawater with solar energy. Will the countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean possibly become the granary of North Africa again as they were in the days of the Roman Empire?
This is a longer process, of course, but the technology is available.

What does the use of solar energy by the "Maghreb" countries exactly mean?
Dr. Hölzl:
Let's have a look at the process per se. On the one hand, the desalination of seawater produces fresh water that can be used for industry and agriculture. On the other hand, the remaining salt contains trace elements such as silicon. This is needed for solar cells and electronic chips.
So there are technical things in there that we can't even imagine here in Central Europe today. And these countries will use solar cells on a large scale in the Sahara not only to generate electricity and fresh water, but also to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

What is the impact of the demand for solar energy on the precious metals sector?
Dr. Hölzl:
For us, solar energy means silver.
11% of the total demand for silver is from the solar and photovoltaic industry. When you consider that only this sector will grow by about 13% per year until 2030 according to current forecasts, it becomes clear why we will be even more dependent on silver in the future.
And that, of course, has massive retroactive effects for the silver market. It has risen considerably in recent years, and demand will continue to rise because silver is simply needed, including in other key technologies of the future.

One year ago, you said in an interview that people should not save money in the bank in order to use that amount to buy precious metals then. They should invest in precious metals on a regular basis instead.
Dr. Hölzl:
That is correct!
If I save money first and then buy gold once, I can be lucky and get a relatively favourable rate. But I can also be unlucky and get a relatively high rate. When I buy precious metals regularly, I automatically use the cost-average effect.
At the same time, the following should be clear to everyone: Every year that I accumulate money (in the account) only to buy gold in the future, I already lose purchasing power through inflation.

Auvesta has been awarded again several times in 2021. In addition to already known awards from Focus Money and Creditreform, Auvesta was awarded with the first place in the category "Germany's BEST provider of gold savings plans 2021" by the Handelsblatt this year. Are these awards a reason for joy?
Dr. Hölzl:
The first awards many years ago were great. Yes, and we've received these awards for many, many years now. That says one thing, namely that we are marching along in the top group and that we have developed further with this entire field. Because if we had stood still, we would no longer be in the top group of awards.
But it's frightening how ordinary this has become for us. We are proud of it. The awards are good for our customers, are good for us, but we then go back to the day-to-day business. That's also important because if we neglect the day-to-day business and don't get better at the day-to-day business, then our next award won't be as good. And let me make it clear: we want to receive them next year, too! The only influence we can have on it is to be really good and continue to be good.

Auvesta is issued an annual certification for best creditworthiness by Creditreform. What does this certification mean?
Dr. Hölzl:
The award at Creditreform says nothing about our work as a precious metal dealer in contrast to the two other awards, which evaluate our work as a precious metal dealer from a professional point of view (Focus Money) and from a customer’s point of view (Handelsblatt).
The certification at Creditreform says something about the financial-political stability of the company. In fact, this certificate has to be ordered. The balance sheet and the additional balance sheet explanations are requested by Creditreform. We only have an influence on the result insofar as we have an influence on our balance sheet figures, i.e. that we run a clean business and deliver a clean balance sheet.
The result: Creditreform certifies that Auvesta has a credit rating as strong as only 1.5% of all German companies.

An occasional concern of gold buyers is - "What happens if my precious metals dealer becomes insolvent? What happens to my precious metals then?"
Dr. Hölzl:
First of all, through our certification with Creditreform we want to demonstrate to our customers that financial stability is secured at Auvesta. Security means for customers, among other things, that they can get to their precious metals again.
Here again important information about the storage and the property rights of the metals. In view of our balance sheet figures it is almost impossible, but just imagine completely hypothetically that Auvesta would no longer exist tomorrow.
The customers' metal is not owned by Auvesta and therefore does not appear on Auvesta's balance sheets. In other words, if Auvesta no longer existed, the metal would still exist. In such a case, a liquidator would be appointed with the task of handing over the customer's property, either in the form of the cash value or as precious metal.

We were just talking about security. In 2021, the media often focused on Internet security. How is Auvesta protected against external risks, such as a total blackout or a possible cyber attack?
Dr. Hölzl:
We have several mirrored servers. One server can always fail due to fire, water, lightning, overvoltage. Therefore, the data is backed up on several (other) servers. These servers are physically present at different locations. We also have a crisis-proof infrastructure with emergency power supply.
In addition, it is not possible for customers to lose their assets with Auvesta.
For the sale of precious metals, a customer always needs a so-called legitimation procedure, similar to online banking at the bank.
Further, the money of a precious metal sale is transferred exclusively to a legitimate bank account of the customer. Even in the case of delivery, precious metals cannot disappear. Precious metals may only be delivered to the deposit holder.
Even if there are technical problems. The customer's metals are not affected. The metal is also - and this is a very important thing - stored in external high-security warehouses.

Dr. Hölzl, what is important to you as a member of the Auvesta Management Board when you think about the coming months in 2022 and beyond?
Dr. Hölzl:
The most important thing is that we ensure security of supply for our customers. That we continue to ensure safe storage. That we continue to give customers who want to resell metals their money in a timely manner. That we can give customers who want to have metals delivered their metals in a timely manner.
That we are and remain simply a reliable partner for our customers.

For me as a member of the board of Auvesta Edelmetalle AG one thing is very clear: I have to ensure the long-term reliability of the company. I have to guarantee the security for the customer.
The most important thing is simply that the customer is satisfied. And that's why we do our best every day with all the employees here at the company and with the programmers who are under contract with the company. This is our daily business and our raison d'être.

Thank you very much Dr. Hölzl for the interview

The interview was conducted by Benedikt Hausler

It is important to us that you can always have a good feeling at Auvesta and know that transparency and cooperation on an equal footing are the standard of our company.

If you have any questions, please contact us. We're here to help!

AUVESTA Edelmetalle AG

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The creditworthiness of Auvesta Edelmetalle AG has been checked and confirmed annually by Creditreform since 2013. Only a few companies are certified as having an “excellent credit rating”.