Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What are your thoughts on ASA Ltd. as a way to invest in gold? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

ASA Limited, $33.36, symbol ASA on New York (Shares outstanding: 19.4 million; Market cap: $648.5 million; www.asaltd.com), 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 85.9% of its assets are in companies with operating mines; exploration and development firms account for 10.4%. ASA’s top holdings are Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold, Randgold Resources, Compania de Minas Buenaventura, Goldcorp, Agnico Eagle Mines, Impala Platinum Holdings, AngloGold Ashanti, Anglo Platinum and Newmont Mining. The $670-million fund holds 41.3% of its assets in Canada, followed by South Africa (20.4%), Australia (10.0%), Latin America (7.7%) and the U.S. (7.0%). ASA trades at a 7.6% discount to its net asset value. To keep the discount low, the fund buys back up to 10% of its shares at 98% of their net asset value…