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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 might consider looking past American Century Global Gold Investor (BGEIX - Free Report) . BGEIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), 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 is a part of the American Century family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. The American Century Global Gold Investor made its debut in August of 1988 and BGEIX has managed to accumulate roughly $361.68 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Yulin Long is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.07%, 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 4.8%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.47%, the standard deviation of BGEIX over the past three years is 31.52%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 35.81% compared to the category average of 14.45%. 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 BGEIX's case, the fund lost 33.93% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1.91%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of -0.14, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 7.01, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, BGEIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 1.37%. BGEIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Global Gold Investor ( BGEIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Precious Metal funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare BGEIX to its peers 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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Is American Century Global Gold Investor (BGEIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Sector - Precious Metal fund might consider looking past American Century Global Gold Investor (BGEIX - Free Report) . BGEIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), 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 is a part of the American Century family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. The American Century Global Gold Investor made its debut in August of 1988 and BGEIX has managed to accumulate roughly $361.68 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Yulin Long is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.07%, 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 4.8%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.47%, the standard deviation of BGEIX over the past three years is 31.52%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 35.81% compared to the category average of 14.45%. 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 BGEIX's case, the fund lost 33.93% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1.91%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of -0.14, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 7.01, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, BGEIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 1.37%. BGEIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Global Gold Investor ( BGEIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Precious Metal funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare BGEIX to its peers 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.