Gold Fund
Investment Objective
The fund will invest primarily in securities of companies engaged in mining, processing, dealing in or holding gold or other precious metals such as silver, platinum and palladium, both in the United States and in foreign countries.
Average Annual Returns as of September 30, 20081
| Share Class |
1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception |
Inception Date |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | without load | -11.3% | 13.5% | 12.7% | 16.9% | 8.8% | 08/31/93 |
| with load | -15.8 | 11.5 | 11.6 | 16.4 | 8.5 | 08/31/93 | |
| C | -12.9 | 12.6 | 11.9 | N/A | 15.0 | 05/15/03 | |
| I | -11.1 | 13.7 | 13.0 | N/A | 16.1 | 05/15/03 |
Growth of $10,000 Since Inception as of September 30, 2008
This chart illustrates a hypothetical $10,000 investment in Class A shares without the effect of sales charges and assumes all distributions have been reinvested.
Top 10 Holdings as of September 30, 2008†
| Gold Bullion | 31.3% |
| Randgold Resources Ltd. ADR (US) | 6.3% |
| Newmont Mining Corp (US) | 5.3% |
| Royal Gold Inc. (US) | 4.9% |
| Gold Fields Ltd. ADR (S. AFR) | 4.8% |
| Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AUS) | 4.8% |
| Kinross Gold Corp. (CAN) | 4.5% |
| Barrick Gold Corp. (CAN) | 3.8% |
| IAMGOLD Corp. (CAN) | 3.6% |
| Goldcorp Inc. (CAN) | 3.6% |
| Total as % of Net Assets | 72.9% |
Allocation by Asset Class as of September 30, 2008†
| Stocks | 65.2% |
| Commodities | 31.3% |
| Cash | 3.5% |
Allocation by Region as of September 30, 2008†
| United States | 41.4% |
| Canada | 26.4% |
| South Africa | 15.5% |
| Australia | 9.7% |
| Mexico | 2.7% |
| United Kingdom | 0.8% |
| Cash | 3.5 % |
Characteristics as of September 30, 2008
| Companies in Portfolio | 30 |
| Median Market Cap ($Mil) | $3,128 |
| Price/Earnings Ratio | 51.20 |
| Price/Book Ratio | 1.97 |
| Beta6 vs FTSE Gold Mines Index7 | 0.79 |
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.
There are risks associated with investing in funds that invest in securities of foreign countries, such as erratic market conditions, economic and political instability and fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Funds whose investments are concentrated in a specific industry or sector may be subject to a higher degree of risk than funds whose investments are diversified and may not be suitable for all investors.
† Portfolio holdings are subject to change and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell securities.
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 “with load” performance gives effect to the deduction of the maximum sales load of 3.75% for periods prior to March 1, 2000 and of 5.00% thereafter. The average annual returns for Class C Shares reflect a CDSC (contingent deferred sales charge) of 1.00% in the first year only. Class I Shares require $1M minimum investment, and are offered without load.
2 Class A Shares as of October 31, 2007 (Class C, 1.95%, Class I, 0.95%).
3 2008 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.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted-average of the performance figures associates with its three-, five- and ten year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. First Eagle Gold Fund was rated against the following numbers of U.S.-domiciled specialty precious metals funds over the following time periods: 61 funds in the last three years, 54 over the past five years and 32 over the past 10 years. With respect to these specialty precious metals funds as of the time period referenced above, First Eagle Gold Fund received a Morningstar Rating of three stars overall, two stars for the 3- and 5-year periods and four stars for the 10-year period.
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.
6 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.
7 The FTSE Gold Mines Index is an unmanaged index composed of approximately 19 mining companies and is only available without dividends reinvested and is not available for purchase.
The First Eagle Funds are offered by First Eagle Funds Distributors, a division of ASB Securities 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.
Certain links may direct you away from firsteaglefunds.com to a site that is unaffiliated with First Eagle Funds. First Eagle has not been involved in the preparation of the content supplied at the unaffiliated site and does not guarantee or assume any responsibility for its content.