How Precious Metals Mutual Funds Can Be A Safe Haven In Troubled Times
Precious metals mutual funds are a fascinating variation on the common theme of mutual fund investing. The concept of a mutual fund is obvious enough, with investment money shared across different companies and market sectors to reduce risk. Precious metals such as gold have also always been used as a counter-cyclical investment. When the stock markets and the world economy is in turmoil, money tends to take flight to less risky investments. This inevitably leads to a rise in the gold price, one of the most reliable of all financial indicators.
The advantage of mutual fund investment is that it offers diversity, and protection against a disaster in one market sector wiping out your entire investment capital. Precious metal investment largely does the same thing, as it would be impossible for gold to lose all, or even most, of its value. Investing in a mutual fund based on durable and reliable metals is one safe way of hedging against market chaos. The worse economic conditions get, the more likely it is that the fund will be profitable.
There are downsides which this type of investment, and one of the main ones is that you are only holding paper. If the economy failed completely, you will almost certainly not be able to turn that paper into actual gold. If, on the other hand, you took physical possession of the metal, you would be able to use it to trade your way out of trouble. On the other hand, physical possession of gold is expensive on an ongoing basis because you need protection and insurance.
Possibly the best solution is to have enough gold in your physical possession to buy yourself out of trouble in the worst case scenario, but to hold the rest of the metal in paper form. A mutual fund which can combine more than one precious metal should also appeal, as this guarantees against any miraculous discovery of new stocks severely damaging the price level of one metal you may be holding. The paper metal holding should be enough to give you protection in most cases, as all mutual funds are backed by the Federal Government.
If you are sure that precious metals mutual funds are the right investment vehicle for you, you will need to assess the balance of the fund, alongside the price movements of the metals themselves. The past movements are no guarantee of future movements, and not all precious metal prices move in the same direction at the same time. Silver prices do tend to follow gold, but in a far more erratic way. Try to find a fund with no front end load, or at least as small a one as possible, as the manager will have very little input with precious metals mutual funds.
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