Assarée
That's what it's all about
- The Swiss company Assarée is striving for greater transparency in the financial and luxury goods industry.
- The Assarée brand stands for “KYS = Know your source”, impact and purpose through transparency.
- Assarée thus offers an alternative to traditional non-transparent financial and luxury products.
There is no gold in Dubai
Do you actually know where the gold in your wedding ring, necklace or bracelet comes from? If so, you are one of the great exceptions among jewelry owners. This is because the gold trade has always been one of the most non-transparent business areas of all. Dubai, which is also known as the “City of Gold” due to its function as an international hub, plays an important role in the gold trade. This is despite the fact that the United Arab Emirates itself has no gold deposits. However, it is difficult to trace exactly where the gold in Dubai comes from. In 2016, for example, the United Arab Emirates imported over 12 tons of gold from the African state of Togo. The problem is that Togo does not have any gold deposits either. How is that possible? Quite simply, the precious metal was smuggled across the border from neighboring countries and comes from illegal gold mines. There are serious suspicions that tons of “dirty gold” from mines using child labour and from conflict regions are being smuggled to Dubai. There it is laundered and smuggled onto the world market. What is irritating is that Switzerland, of all places, is one of the world’s largest importers of gold from the United Arab Emirates, meaning that the dirty gold from Togo ends up directly in Swiss refineries via Dubai.
"No sustainability without transparency"
The two Swiss entrepreneurs Anouk Hilti-Zingg and Nathalie Widmer are tackling this problem with their company Assarée and have set themselves the goal of offering an alternative to traditional, non-transparent financial and luxury products. “Because without transparency, sustainable consumption or investment is simply impossible,” says Hilti-Zingg. As a flagship project in line with its KYS (“Know Your Source”) approach, Assarée has therefore created Assarée Gold in collaboration with a Geneva-based consulting firm and a Swiss refinery. A product with a transparent value chain from the mine to the market. The gold is transported directly to the Swiss refinery via a local processing plant without any intermediate trade and from there to the market. Specific ESG targets (environment, social, governance) are being targeted, such as CO2 neutrality by 2022. The long-term goal is to make gold extraction climate-positive by 2030. The use of mercury is already avoided in the extraction of Assarée Gold and small-scale miners are guaranteed fair remuneration above the typically low industry standard. In order to finance this ESG strategy, the customer pays a premium on the gold price, 2/3 of which flows directly back into the value chain. Assarée gold is available as a physical investment product or as a material for jewelry and watchmaking collections. With a view to the next generation of customers and investors, Assarée is planning to expand its range of transparent investment products. In particular, the focus is on other asset classes such as fund products or direct investments.
Assarée visits Gstaad
If you would like to find out more about Assarée’s work, you will have the opportunity to meet the founders in person at Gstaad Airport between February 11 and 27, 2022 and be inspired by the Assarée Pop-Up Experience. Assarée will be hosting three exclusive events during this time:
– Breathing in Gstaad: “because health is wealth” (12.02.2022)
– Carbon-Neutral Gold: Utopia or Reality? (16.02.2022)
– Take Agency on Your Impact! (19.02.22)
The overarching aim of the pop-up experience is to promote transparency in the world of finance and luxury as the new industry standard and to enable customers to consume and, not least, invest in line with their values.
For more information on exclusive events & happenings, visit assaree.com or email salut@assaree.com.