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Is American Century Global Gold Investor (BGEIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Sector - Precious Metal fund could think about starting with American Century Global Gold Investor (BGEIX - Free Report) . BGEIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that BGEIX is a Sector - Precious Metal option, and this area is loaded with different options. Sector - Precious Metal funds typically invest in companies that are involved in the mining and production of precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Because stocks in this environment often trade as leveraged bets of the underlying commodity--they are tied to the prices of the metal--these equities tend to be volatile.

History of Fund/Manager

BGEIX finds itself in the American Century family, based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century Global Gold Investor made its debut in August of 1988, and since then, BGEIX has accumulated about $453.60 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Yulin Long who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2016.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. BGEIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.38% and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.48%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. BGEIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 24.77% compared to the category average of 12.56%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 35.46% compared to the category average of 14.93%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. BGEIX lost 33.92% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 3%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of -0.17, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. BGEIX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 12.67, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, BGEIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 1.45%. BGEIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Century Global Gold Investor ( BGEIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Sector - Precious Metal segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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