Top Precious Metals Funds

"Precious Metals" is our focus today. These equity mutual funds 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 Funds that are as Good as Gold 

OCM Gold (OCMGX), which was founded in February 1988, 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.

Company-specific factors, and not general economic conditions, provide the basis for this fund's buy and sell decisions. Its portfolio turnover was 5% at the end of February 2009.

Shareholders 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) invests in equity securitiet that deal in valuable metals, in order to obtain capital appreciation while protecting against inflation and monetary instability.

The non-diversified fund selects companies with established producing mines and also diversified mining companies, which produce a meaningful amount of gold.

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. It is designed for investors who want to diversify their portfolio through exposure to gold stocks and hedge against inflation or currency devaluation.

The fund may also invest in other precious metals.

Top holdings include Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD - Snapshot Report), Goldcorp Inc. (GG - Snapshot Report) and Newmont Mining (NEM - Analyst Report).

Discover Many More Funds

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.