Back to top

Image: Bigstock

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

Read MoreHide Full Article

Sector - Precious Metal fund seekers should consider taking a look at American Century Global Gold Investor (BGEIX - Free Report) . BGEIX has 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

American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of BGEIX. Since American Century Global Gold Investor made its debut in August of 1988, BGEIX has garnered more than $402.38 million in assets. 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.43%, and it sits 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 1.35%, 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 BGEIX over the past three years is 23.06% compared to the category average of 12.56%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 33.79% compared to the category average of 14.76%. 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. In the most recent bear market, BGEIX lost 33.92% and outperformed its peer group by 3%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.24, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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 9.37, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital 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 1.41%. From a cost perspective, BGEIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $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, American Century Global Gold Investor ( BGEIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

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 want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


American Century Global Gold Inv (BGEIX) - free report >>

Published in