Hey Joel...where are ya?
Check this out.
Friday October 2, 5:38 pm Eastern Time
NEW YORK, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Van Eck Global and Worldwide Hard Assets Funds has raised their allocation to gold shares to between 20 and 25 percent of assets from 5 percent, the funds said in statement Friday.
The company said the move comes in response to the rally in gold and gold share prices sparked by the recent turmoil in financial markets.
''Currency collapses, hedge fund failures, and the threat of further declines in stock prices have raised investor need for a true safe haven, and gold has historically been the safe haven of last resort,'' said Derek Van Eck, portfolio manager of the Van Eck Global Hard Assets Fund and the Van Eck Worldwide Hard Assets Fund, which is offered through insurers.
World stock and currency markets are likely to remain volatile well into 1999, and the prospect that central bankers may loosen monetary policies to avert recession means gold and gold shares will outperform other assets, Van Eck said.
The gold allocation in the fund is now the highest of the past four years.
Van Eck manages nearly $140 million in assets in the Hard Assets sector, and more than $250 million in gold mutual funds.
Founded in 1955, Van Eck Global offered the first gold mutual fund and its Hard Assets Funds invest in the stocks of gold mining and other metals-related companies, real estate, energy and natural resources concerns. |
