Top Precious Metals Funds

Today we are featuring top-performing "Precious Metals" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in bullion or equity securities of companies that trade in gold and/or precious metals.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Precious Metals Equity Funds.

3 Valuable Samples

OCM Gold (OCMGX) was incepted in February 1988. The investment seeks long-term growth of capital by investing primarily in equity securities of domestic and foreign companies engaged in activities related to gold and precious metals.

The fund bases its decisions to purchase and sell securities on company specific factors, not general economic conditions. Its portfolio turnover was 5% at the end of February 2009.

Unit holders have a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank ("Strong Buy") fund. It has topped the total returns of its benchmark index in the last 1-, 3- and 5-year periods.

U.S. Global Investors Gold and Precious Metals (USERX) seeks capital appreciation and protection against inflation and monetary instability by investing in equity securities of companies that deal in valuable metals.

The fund focuses on selecting companies with established producing mines and also diversified mining companies which produce a meaningful amount of gold. It is non-diversified.

Frank Holmes has been lead manager at the fund since June 1999. Holmes has 30 years of investment experience. The fund distributes dividends and capital gains, if any, annually in December.

Tocqueville Gold (TGLDX) seeks long-term capital appreciation. The fund is designed for investors desiring to diversify their portfolio by exposure to gold stocks and hedge against inflation or currency devaluation.

The fund may also invest in other precious metals. It may not invest more than 20% of total assets directly in gold bullion and other precious metals.

The fund's top holdings include Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD - Snapshot Report), Goldcorp Inc. (GG - Snapshot Report) and IAMGold Corp. (IAG - Snapshot Report).

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Learn more about the new Zacks Mutual Fund Rank and discover some of the best market-beating mutual funds by browsing our new mutual funds section. This part of Zacks.com offers a variety of tools, including mutual fund research, a new mutual fund screener, helpful answers to frequently asked questions and quick access to prospectuses and other information.

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.