Metals and Minerals Insights from Frank Holmes

In a recent interview with Equities.com, Frank Holmes talks about the significance of active management when investing in resource and gold stocks. He explains that portfolio managers have a wide array of expertise that they bring to managing their portfolios. Such expertise is especially crucial when investing in the metals and mining space, says Frank, an area of the market that has seen rough times these last few years.

As far as mining companies go, particularly in gold, Frank thinks they will be much more disciplined on profitable growth rather than “growth for the sake of growth.”

Read the entire interview here.

For further insight, Frank will be a keynote speaker at the San Francisco Metals and Minerals Investment Conference on November 25-26.

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Foreign and emerging market investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and less public disclosure, as well as economic and political risk. Because the Global Resources Fund concentrates its investments in a specific industry, the fund may be subject to greater risks and fluctuations than a portfolio representing a broader range of industries. Gold, precious metals, and precious minerals funds may be susceptible to adverse economic, political or regulatory developments due to concentrating in a single theme. The prices of gold, precious metals, and precious minerals are subject to substantial price fluctuations over short periods of time and may be affected by unpredicted international monetary and political policies. We suggest investing no more than 5% to 10% of your portfolio in these sectors.

According to Lipper, the World Precious Minerals Fund ranked 50 out of 72 funds, 50 out of 55, and 27 out of 39 precious metals equity funds for total return for the 1-, 5- and 10-year periods as of 9/30/2013. The Global Resources Fund ranked 116 out of 151 funds, 36 out of 98, and 13 out of 34 global natural resources funds for total return for the 1-, 5- and 10-year periods as of 9/30/2013. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper. Users acknowledge that they have not relied upon any warranty, condition, guarantee, or representation made by Lipper. Any use of the data for analyzing, managing, or trading financial instruments is at the user’s own risk. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities.

All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. By clicking the link above, you will be directed to a third-party website. U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this website and is not responsible for their content. Diversification does not protect an investor from market risks and does not assure a profit. The commentary references the investment theory of an investment as insurance against a separate market event that could negatively affect performance of an investment. Alpha is a measure of performance on a risk-adjusted basis. Alpha takes the volatility (price risk) of a mutual fund and compares its risk-adjusted performance to a benchmark index. The excess return of the fund relative to the return of the benchmark index is a fund’s alpha. Holdings in the U.S. Global Investors Funds mentioned as a percentage of net assets as of 9/30/2013: Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp (Global Resources Fund 0.08%), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (Gold and Precious Metals Fund 0.17%, World Precious Minerals Fund 0.19%).

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The S&P 500 Stock Index is a widely recognized capitalization-weighted index of 500 common stock prices in U.S. companies. The Purchasing Manager’s Index is an indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector. The PMI is based on five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment.

The chart illustrates the performance of a hypothetical $10,000 investment made in the funds and strategy during the depicted time frame. Figures include reinvestment of capital gains and dividends, but the performance does not include the effect of any direct fees described in the fund’s prospectus (e.g., short-term trading fees) which, if applicable, would lower your total returns. This hypothetical portfolio is presented for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation to engage in any particular investment strategy. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Investment objective: The Gold and Precious Metals Fund is an actively managed mutual fund that focuses on gold and precious metals producing companies. The World Precious Minerals Fund is an actively managed fund that focuses on junior and intermediate precious metals exploration companies around the world. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is a passively managed fund that, before expenses, seeks to correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500 Index.

Liquidity: The Gold and Precious Metals Fund and World Precious Minerals Fund can be purchased or sold at a net asset value (NAV) determined at the end of each trading day. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF can be purchased or sold intraday. These purchases and redemptions may generate brokerage commissions and other charges not reflected in the ETF’s published expense ratio.

Safety/Fluctuations of principal/return: Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Gold and Precious Metals Fund, the World Precious Minerals Fund and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. Shares of the three securities are subject to sudden fluctuations in value. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF may also be subject to bid-ask premiums or discounts to net asset value (NAV) that could adversely affect a shareholder’s actual returns.

Tax features: The Gold and Precious Metals Fund and World Precious Minerals Fund intend to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. Under current federal law, long-term capital gains for individual investors in the fund are taxed at a maximum rate of 15%. For the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, long-term capital gain distributions will result from gains on the sale or exchange of capital assets held by the fund for more than one year. Any long-term capital gains distributions you receive from a fund are taxable as long-term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned your shares. Long-term capital gains are currently taxed at a maximum of 15%. Information provided here is neither tax nor legal advice and is general in nature. Federal and state laws and regulations are subject to change.