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Is Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A (FKRCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Precious Metal funds, consider Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A (FKRCX - Free Report) as a possibility. FKRCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FKRCX 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
FKRCX is a part of the Franklin Templeton family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. The Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A made its debut in May of 1969 and FKRCX has managed to accumulate roughly $537.38 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Steve M. Land who has been in charge of the fund since April of 1999.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -2.37%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 8.37%, 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. The standard deviation of FKRCX over the past three years is 35.29% compared to the category average of 17.79%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 34% compared to the category average of 17.76%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In FKRCX's case, the fund lost 37.73% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 1.89%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FKRCX has a 5-year beta of -0.06, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 2.94. This means 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, FKRCX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.02% compared to the category average of 1.36%. From a cost perspective, FKRCX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A ( FKRCX ) 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.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Precious Metal, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A (FKRCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Precious Metal funds, consider Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A (FKRCX - Free Report) as a possibility. FKRCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FKRCX 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
FKRCX is a part of the Franklin Templeton family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. The Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A made its debut in May of 1969 and FKRCX has managed to accumulate roughly $537.38 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Steve M. Land who has been in charge of the fund since April of 1999.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -2.37%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 8.37%, 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. The standard deviation of FKRCX over the past three years is 35.29% compared to the category average of 17.79%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 34% compared to the category average of 17.76%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In FKRCX's case, the fund lost 37.73% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 1.89%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FKRCX has a 5-year beta of -0.06, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 2.94. This means 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, FKRCX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.02% compared to the category average of 1.36%. From a cost perspective, FKRCX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Gold & Precious Metals A ( FKRCX ) 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.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Precious Metal, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.