Custodian selection for my Gold IRA - experiences/recommendations?

• •Diving into the weeds on custodian selection for my new Gold IRA and feeling a bit overwhelmed, to be honest.
• •I'm looking to roll over a significant chunk, probably around $300k, from an old 403(b) and a traditional IRA.
• •I've been poring over various options – Equity Trust, Strata Trust, Kingdom Trust, U.S.

Diving into the weeds on custodian selection for my new Gold IRA and feeling a bit overwhelmed, to be honest. I'm looking to roll over a significant chunk, probably around $300k, from an old 403(b) and a traditional IRA. As a university professor here in Richmond, I tend to get pretty research-heavy on these things, and I'm really trying to find the best fit long-term.

I've been poring over various options – Equity Trust, Strata Trust, Kingdom Trust, U.S. Money Reserve (though less keen on them as a dealer/custodian combo), and American Estate & Trust. My main priorities are security, transparent fee structures, and responsive customer service. I absolutely despise hidden fees or going through hoops just to get a straight answer. Storage options are also on my mind; I'd prefer a segregated storage solution rather than commingled, ideally with locations that aren't too far off the beaten path if I ever needed to visit (though I know that's rare).

Currently, my portfolio is pretty heavily weighted towards equities, and while I've seen some impressive long-term numbers from the stock market, the current volatility has me looking for a bit more stability. I've been playing around with that Gold vs Stocks Comparison tool on Gold IRA Blueprint, and it's pretty eye-opening to see how gold has stacked up, especially over the last 10 years. It's making me even more convinced about diversifying with physical precious metals.

So, does anyone have strong recommendations or, more importantly, any cautionary tales about specific custodians? What kind of annual fees are you seeing? Any particular red flags I should be looking out for? I'm trying to make a well-informed decision here, and any real-world experiences would be incredibly valuable.