Fund of America
Investment Objective
First Eagle Fund of America is a non-diversified fund that seeks capital appreciation by investing primarily in U.S. stocks and, to a lesser extent, in debt and international equity securities. The Fund has a unique event-driven bias that focuses on identifying companies poised to benefit from change that the market has not yet recognized.
Average Annual Returns as of December 31, 20091
| Share Class |
1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception |
Inception Date |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | w/o sales charge | 26.2% | -0.6% | 3.9% | 5.5% | 6.5% | 11/20/98 |
| w/ sales charge | 19.9 | -2.3 | 2.9 | 5.0 | 6.1 | 11/20/98 | |
| C | 24.3 | -1.3 | 3.2 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 03/02/98 | |
| Y* | 26.1 | -0.6 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 11.6 | 04/10/87 |
Growth of $10,000 Since Inception as of December 31, 2009
This chart illustrates a hypothetical $10,000 investment in Class A shares without the effect of sales charges and assumes all distributions have been reinvested.
Top 10 Holdings as of December 31, 2009†
| Baxter International Inc. | 5.2% |
| General Dynamics Corp. | 4.9% |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International | 4.7% |
| Ball Corp. | 4.3% |
| Amgen Inc. | 4.1% |
| SPDR Gold Shares ETF | 4.0% |
| Devon Energy Corp. | 4.0% |
| Dresser-Rand Group Inc. | 3.9% |
| DIRECTTV | 3.6% |
| Precision Castparts Corp. | 3.5% |
| Total as % of Net Assets | 42.2% |
Allocation by Sector as of December 31, 2009†
| Materials | 18.3% |
| Energy | 13.9% |
| Information Technology | 13.1% |
| Industrials | 12.3% |
| Health Care Providers and Services | 9.5% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 8.3% |
| Biotechnology | 8.1% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 6.5% |
| Financials | 4.0% |
| Consumer Staples | 2.6% |
| Telecommunication Services | 0.9% |
| Cash & Cash Equivalents | 2.5% |
Allocation by Market Cap6 as of December 31, 2009†
| Large Cap | 44.2% |
| Mid Cap | 37.1% |
| Small Cap | 18.7% |
Characteristics as of December 31, 2009
| Companies in Portfolio | 47 |
| Median Market Cap ($Mil) | $4,096 |
| Price/Earnings Ratio | 15.89 |
| Price/Book Ratio | 2.70 |
| Beta7 vs S&P 500 Index8 | 0.83 |
The performance data quoted herein represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Market volatility can dramatically impact the fund's short term performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than figures shown. The investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost. Past performance data through the most recent month end is available at www.firsteaglefunds.com or by calling 800.334.2143.
The event-driven investment style used by First Eagle Fund of America carries the additional risk that the event anticipated occurs later than expected, does not occur at all or does not have the desired effect on the market price of the securities. Investment in gold and gold related investments present certain risks, and returns on gold related investments have traditionally been more volatile than investments in broader equity or debt markets.
* As of September 1, 2005, Class Y Shares are closed to new accounts.
† Portfolio holdings are subject to change and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell securities. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.
1 The average annual returns shown above are historical and reflect changes in share price, reinvested dividends and are net of expenses. Investment results and the principal value of an investment will vary. The average annual returns for Class A Shares reflect the maximum sales charge of 5.00%. The average annual returns for Class C Shares reflect a CDSC (contingent deferred sales charge) of 1.00% in the year-to-date and first year only. Class Y shares are offered without sales charge.
2 Class Y Shares as of March 1, 2010 (Class A, 1.51%, Class C, 2.26%).
3 2010 Morningstar, Inc.© All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Ratings are relative to a peer group and do not necessarily mean that the fund had high total returns. For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates Morningstar RatingTM based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) First Eagle Fund of America was rated against the following numbers of U.S.-domiciled mid-cap blend funds over the following time periods: 369 funds in the last three years, 303 over the past five years and 152 over the past ten years. With respect to these mid-cap blend funds as of time period referenced above, First Eagle Fund of America received a Morningstar Rating of five stars overall and for the 3- and 5-year periods and four stars for the 10-year period. The Morningstar Rating is for the Y share class only; other classes may have different performance characteristics.
4 The Morningstar Style Box tm reveals a fund's investment strategy. For equity funds the vertical axis shows the market capitalization of the stocks owned and the horizontal axis shows investment style (value, blend or growth). All of these numbers are drawn from the fund's portfolio holding figures most recently entered into the Morningstar database and the corresponding market conditions. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
5 Lipper, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reuters, is a leading global provider of mutual fund information and analysis to fund companies, financial intermediaries, and media organizations.
6Based on Morningstar’s definition of Market Capitalization Breakpoints, as of 12/31/09. Small Cap is less than $2.1 billion, Mid Cap is between $2.1 and $9.7 billion, and Large Cap is greater than $9.7 billion.
7 Beta is a measurement of the fund's market risk. The higher the Beta, the more the fund's price is expected to change in response to a given change in price.
8 Standard & Poor's 500 Index is a widely recognized unmanaged index including a representative sample of 500 leading companies in leading sectors of the U.S. economy and is not available for purchase. Although the Standard & Poor's 500 Index focuses on the large-cap segment of the market, with approximately 75% coverage of U.S. equities, it is also considered a proxy for the total market.
The First Eagle Funds are offered by FEF Distributors, LLC, member SIPC, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105. Investors should consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully, which are detailed in our prospectus. Please read our prospectus carefully before investing. For further information about the First Eagle Funds please call 800.334.2143. Investments are not FDIC insured or bank guaranteed, and may lose value.
For further information, please contact us at info@firsteaglefunds.com or visit the Contact Us page.
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