A-Mark Financial Corporation - Solidly Established: 1990s

Solidly Established: 1990s

By 1990, A-Mark was one of the largest wholesalers of precious metals, with banks, brokerage houses, refiners, jewelers, investment advisors, coin dealers, and government mints its main clients. The company had evolved along with the industry, growing as the market grew. "Since I've gotten into it, it's gone from a cottage industry to a fairly established market with very large players," Markoff told the Los Angeles Business Journal.

David Tobenkin wrote: "A-Mark was one of the first major dealing houses to supply gold coins and bars to mutual funds holding physical gold. The same services are extended to banks, brokerage and coin dealers." In addition, A-Mark aided in its own success through endeavors such as advertising support for dealers and inventory storage and financial programs for industrial users of precious metal.

A-Mark acquired Deak International Goldline (U.S.A.) in 1991. The company sold retail precious metals and provided bulk storage services through bank depositories, according to the Wall Street Journal. A-Mark purchased the business from Thomas Cook Currency Services Inc., whose ultimate parent company was Midland Bank PLC.

Company Perspectives:

Honesty, Integrity, and Reliability: Our Corporate Culture reflects our founding principles and philosophy of placing honesty, integrity, and reliability at the forefront of our dealings.

In 1995, the privately held A-Mark still was revealing only that its revenues exceeded $1 billion. Sales figures aside, A-Mark's business was one of slim margins. Mark Albarian, a company director, told the Los Angeles Business Journal, "Wholesale mark-ups on precious metals can be 1 percent or less, and mark-ups for retail can be as little as 1 to 3 percent." Most of A-Mark's transactions took place in the wholesale market. Although the company made large-volume purchases, the majority of the metal was traded, not held. Any speculative buying was only a "very small" part of the company's business according to Albarian.

Among the company's wholly owned subsidiaries serving its customers were Precious Metals Finance Corp., offering help to finance precious metal purchases; Goldline International Inc., selling to the general public; Superior Stamp & Coin, a Beverly Hills auction company; and A.M. Handling Company, a melt/assay facility. All of the company's operations were based within Los Angeles County. But the company's transactions took place across the United States and around the globe. A-Mark employed just 89 people to run all of its operations.

In 1997 A-Mark arrived on the World Wide Web. The product line was expanded the next year to include platinum alloys, including ruthenium, iridium, and cobalt.

During 1999 Forbes listed A-Mark Financial Corporation as the 51st largest privately held company in the United States, and in 2000 it was recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as the second largest privately held company in Los Angeles.