Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Could you please give your opinion of ASA Ltd. as a way to invest in gold? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

ASA Limited, $61.09, symbol ASA on New York (Shares outstanding: 7.2 million; Market cap: $439.9 million), is a closed-end fund that must keep at least 80% of its assets in shares of companies that mine gold, silver, platinum, diamonds or other precious metals. The company mostly invests in well-established gold stocks with steady cash flows and large reserves. About 82% of its assets are now gold stocks; other natural-resource stocks account for 14%. ASA owns the following stocks: Anglo American plc, Lonmin plc, Impala Platinum Holdings, Anglo Platinum, Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold, Goldcorp, Kinross Gold, NovaGold Resources, Randgold Resources, Compania de Minas Buenaventura, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields Limited, Harmony Gold Mining, Newmont Mining and SPDR Gold Trust. The $552.5-million fund holds 32.2% of its assets in Canada, followed by South Africa (15.3%), Latin America (7.3%), Australia (9.6%) and the U.S. (4.6%). ASA trades at a 10% discount to its net asset value. As well, it buys back up to 10% of its…