U.S. Global Investors Resources and Gold Funds Win 2007 Lipper Fund Awards
SAN ANTONIO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The World Precious Minerals Fund, managed by U.S. Global Investors Inc. (Nasdaq:GROW), is the 2007 winner of the Lipper Fund Award in the Best Gold-Oriented Fund category.
2007 marks the second consecutive year that the World Precious Minerals Fund (UNWPX) has won the Lipper award for best gold fund. The award was earned for the fund’s consistent return for the three years ending December 31, 2006. The fund was ranked #1 of 49 funds in its category for that time period.
The fund also was recognized by Lipper as being the best gold fund in consistent return for the five years ending December 31, 2006. The fund was ranked #1 of 38 funds in its category over that period.
The Global Resources Fund (PSPFX), also managed by U.S. Global Investors, won the Lipper award in the Natural Resources category for consistent return over the five years ending December 31, 2006. The fund was ranked #1 of 72 funds in its category. This is the third straight year that the Global Resources Fund has been recognized by Lipper for its consistent return compared to its peers.
Consistent return is a measure calculated by Lipper based on its own formula that considers a number of performance and risk factors.
Frank Holmes, U.S. Global’s chief executive and chief investment officer, offered the following comments in response to the company’s latest Lipper awards.
“We urge investors to focus their attention on our active investment processes and the robust economic activity in the emerging markets, rather than on our stellar recent performance. Emerging markets and commodities are highly correlated asset classes and have had several volatile swings over the past 12 months. Large moves in the U.S. dollar have added to the swings in commodity prices and emerging-markets stocks.
“The need for infrastructure in emerging economies remains high, and this is a key driver for sustainable commodity demand. Investors should keep in mind, however, that both asset classes will continue to be more volatile than the S&P 500. Research suggests that investors not chase performance and that they limit their exposure to different asset classes and rebalance annually.
“Investing in gold stocks has been challenging for the past nine months. Even though gold bullion demand remains healthy, prices are not high enough for many companies to generate returns on capital greater than their cost of capital. In addition, many gold-mining companies have experienced delays and disappointments in their project development. While this is good for gold prices due to less supply, it hurts short-term performance for gold stocks.
“The three key value drivers for resource stocks are growth in reserves, production and cash flow. Many stocks have experienced poor results due to factors including rising energy costs, geopolitics, Mother Nature and massively dilutive takeovers. Nonetheless, we remain bullish on gold and continue to believe that we are still in a secular bull market for commodities and emerging markets.”
About U.S. Global Investors, Inc.
U.S. Global Investors, Inc. (www.us-global.com) is a registered investment advisor that focuses on profitable niche markets around the world. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the company provides advisory, transfer agency and other services to U.S. Global Investors Funds, U.S. Global Accolade Funds and other clients.
With an average of more than $4.74 billion in assets under management for the quarter ended December 31, 2006, U.S. Global Investors manages domestic and offshore funds offering investment options from emerging markets to money markets. In general, trends in assets under management are the critical drivers of revenue and earnings.
Please consider carefully the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For this and other important information, obtain a fund prospectus by visiting www.usfunds.com or by calling 1-800-US-FUNDS (1-800-873-8637). Read it carefully before investing. Distributed by U.S. Global Brokerage Inc.
Performance data quoted above is historical. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data quoted. The principal value and investment return of an investment will fluctuate so that your shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. You may obtain performance data current to the most recent month end at www.usfunds.com or by calling 1-800-US-FUNDS, option 5.
All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor.
Foreign and emerging market investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and less public disclosure, as well as economic and political risk. Gold funds may be susceptible to adverse economic, political or regulatory developments due to concentrating in a single theme. The price of gold is 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 gold or gold stocks.
The Lipper Fund Award selection process began with Lipper calculating a Consistent Return score for each fund for the three-year time period as of December 31, 2006. Consistent Return is a quantitative metric that incorporates two characteristics: risk-adjusted return, and the strength of the fund’s performance trend. The top-scoring Consistent Return fund within each classification received the awards. (Certificates are also awarded to the top funds over the 5-year and 10-year periods). 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.
The S&P 500 Stock Index is a widely recognized capitalization-weighted index of 500 common stock prices in U.S. companies.
Photo credit: James St. John via VisualHunt / CC BY
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