Mark Johnson
USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund
Mark Johnson is the king of gold stocks. His USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund has posted an incredible 28% annualized return over the past 10 years, winning Lipper's crown as the decade's best mutual fund in any category. He's not expecting gold to continue its runaway pace but maintains it isn't headed for a crash.
One of his favorite stocks is Royal Gold, which is a gold-finance firm. It invests in mines and projects, and as a result it owns royalties on gold production rather than actual mines. So Royal Gold is protected if a miner's costs spiral out of control. Johnson predicts new mines in Chile, Mexico, and Canada will boost Royal's ounces under royalty from 134,000 to 180,000 by 2012.
"This is not a cheap stock," he says, "but it's very high quality with a great growth profile. We think it's worth it."
--S.C.
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