What is Allocated Gold?

According to the London Good Delivery set of regulatory and compliance standards, gold can be bought in two distinct forms: allocated or unallocated. When a customer purchases allocated gold, they have ownership over the gold and can choose to store it on their own, or in a vault at a London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) facility. Unallocated gold does not feature direct ownership over specific gold bars, but instead holds entitlement to a certain amount of gold.