October 15, 2012

Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund FKRCX

Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund is one of the top performing gold mutual funds. It invests in precious metals companies.

Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund (FKRCX)

The investment aim of Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund is to seek capital appreciation; current income is a secondary objective. This investment fund utilizes its net assets to buy stocks of gold and precious metals operation companies. It may invest around the world.

Fund Details
    Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund
  • Fund Inception Date: May 19, 1969
  • Ticker Symbol: FKRCX
  • CUSIP: 353 535 107
  • Beta (3yr): 1.10
  • Rank in category (YTD): 75%
  • Category: Equity Precious Metals
  • Distribution: 2.47%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.91%
  • Net Assets: $ 2.72 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 24 years
  • Number of Years Down: 18 years
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 8.06%
Updated on 10/15/2012

Steve Land has started managing this top fund since April 1999. The fund has been in the market since May 1969. It has total net assets of $2.72 billion. The 12-month dividend yield of this fund is 2.47%. The most recent distribution was in December 2011 ($0.86). The annual portfolio turnover as of May 23, 2012 is 8.06%. This turnover rate is lower than the average in the Equity Precious Metals category (96.73%). The fund has an expense ratio of 0.91% per year.

MORE: Best Precious Metals Mutual Funds 2012

Based on the load adjusted returns, this equity mutual fund has returned 15.03% over the past 3-year, 6.24% over the past 5-year and 14.54% over the past 10-year. The fund has Neutral rating from Morningstar. Also ranked with 3-stars rating, it has 24 years of positive return. It has its best return in 2009 with 69.56%.

This Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund is available in some other classes, such as Class A (FKRCX), Class B (FAGPX), Class C (FRGOX) and Advisor Class (FGADX). It requires a minimum initial purchase of $1,000 for brokerage account and $250 for retirement account. There is no minimum subsequent investment needed. The brokerages that provide the sales of this fund are JP Morgan, Vanguard, Scottrade Load, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Schwab Retail, Morgan Stanley Advisors, etc.

The top holdings of this fund as per March 2012 are Newcrest Mining Ltd (7.13%), Goldcorp Inc (5.54%), Randgold Resources Ltd (5.51%), AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (4.96%), Barrick Gold Corp (3.45%), Osisko Mining Corp (2.42%), Iamgold Corp (2.42%), Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd (2.42%), Nevsun Resources Ltd (2.37%) and Anglo American Platinum Ltd (2.35%).

According to the fund prospectus, the fund’s principal risks are Gold and Precious Metals risk, Market risk, Foreign Securities risk, Smaller and Midsize Companies, Concentration risk, Non-diversification risk, management risk, etc. If you are interested in top performer precious metals ETFs, you can check my article.

Disclosure: No Position

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