Equity

FKRCX Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund

  • Inflation hedge. Gold and other precious metals have performed well during recessionary and inflationary times.
  • Diversification. By adding investments from different sectors to your portfolio, you may take advantage of expanding and contracting economic cycles.
  • Experienced Portfolio Management Team. Tenured investment team with expertise across market cycles.
NAV 1 $-1.00(-2.30%)
$42.55
As of 11/13/2025
YTD Total Returns At NAV 2
146.52%
As of 11/13/2025
Total Net Assets
$2.31B
As of 10/31/2025 (Updated Monthly)
Morningstar Overall Rating™ 3
As of 10/31/2025

Sign in to view documents

This feature is not available at your firm

Skipped to Overview Section Content

Overview

Fund Facts

Fund description

The fund seeks capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of its net assets in the securities of companies around the world that mine, process or deal in gold or other precious metals such as silver, platinum, and palladium. The fund has a secondary goal of current income.

Benchmark
FTSE Gold Mines Index
Additional Benchmark
S&P 500 Index
Fund Inception Date
05/19/1969
Dividend Frequency, if any
Annually
Portfolio Turnover
23%

Sales Charges, Expenses & Fees

As of 12/01/2024
Gross Expense Ratio4
0.92%
Net Expense Ratio4,5
0.92%
Maximum Initial Charge
5.50%
CDSC6
1.00%
12b-1 Fee
0.25%

Identifiers

Ticker
FKRCX
Fund Number
132
CUSIP Code
353535107

Average Annual Total Returns

View performance section for additional info As of 10/31/2025

Class A

  • 84.65%1 Year
  • 47.74%3 Years
  • 16.70%5 Years
  • 17.22%10 Years
  • 6.20%Since Inception
    05/19/1969

Performance data quoted represents past performance, which does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the figures shown.

Top Sectors

View portfolio section for additional info

As of 10/31/2025 % of Total (Updated Monthly)

Long Life Gold Mines42.77%
Gold Exploration & Development25.99%
Medium Life Gold Mines11.04%
Diversified Metals & Mining9.69%
Precious Metals & Minerals4.51%

Additional Fund Info

Share Class Inception Date
05/19/1969
Investment Style
Sector
Lipper Classification
Precious Metals Equity Funds
Morningstar Category
Equity Precious Metals

Sign in to view documents

Manager and Commentary

About the Team

Franklin Equity Group

Growth equity managers with a focus on in-depth fundamental research, we offer expertise in managing global, U.S. and sector-specific strategies across the market capitalization spectrum. Our center of gravity in Silicon Valley allows us to follow companies across their private to public life cycles, developing deeper insights into future industry trends and identifying potential disruptors.

Commentary Highlights

September 30, 2025
  • Precious and Base Metals Markets: Gold spot prices soared 11.9% in September 2025, 16.8% in the third quarter (3Q25) and 47.0% year-to-date (to $3,859 per troy ounce). Gold has achieved successive real (inflation-adjusted) record highs amid ongoing investor concerns about geopolitical tensions, the economic turbulence of US-led tariffs and trade conflicts, inflation and a high degree of uncertainty about the outlook for the US Federal Reserve’s rate-reduction cycle. These factors were joined by the support of declining real yields and newer concerns over persistently elevated fiscal debt and budgeting deadlock in Washington. Gold’s precious metals peers—silver (+29.2%, to $46.65 per ounce in 3Q25), platinum (+15.9%, to $1,576) and palladium (+13.9%, to $1,261)—also extended their 2025 uptrend amid cyclical and structural tailwinds as all three have seen unprecedented supply tightness this year, exacerbating concerns about dwindling stockpiles of freely available metal as several years of supply deficits come to a head. In US and global equity markets, metals and mining companies rallied solidly and were distinct outliers to the upside within the materials sector. From a wider perspective, gold and precious metals miners sat at the top of the leaderboard within materials and also outperformed all other sectors or industry sub-groups across the entire stock market.
  • Detractors: Unfavorable security selection versus the benchmark FTSE Gold Mines Index in the gold industry.
  • Contributors: Numerous off-index or overweighted gold industry holdings that surpassed the benchmark return and, outside the gold industry, impressive rallies for several off-index allocations to miners focused on platinum, palladium, silver, copper and other industrial metals as they topped the pure-play gold miners tracked by the index.
  • Outlook: In broad terms, significantly higher gold prices provided a meaningful profit-margin boost to gold miners’ quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year earnings, as seen in their first and second quarter 2025 results, and we believe 3Q25 results could reflect continued strength, if current conditions persist.
Franklin Equity Group
[Steve Lands avatar]

Managed Fund Since 1999

[Fred Fromms avatar]

Managed Fund Since 2005

Portfolio Manager Profile
Years of Experience
Manager Location

Sign in to view documents

Sign in to view documents

Skipped to Performance Section Content

Performance

Calendar Year Returns

8

As of 10/31/2025

Chart

Bar chart with 4 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying values. Data ranges from -27.68 to 60.72.
End of interactive chart.
Class A - With Sales Charge (POP) (%)
Class A - Without Sales Charge (NAV) (%)
FTSE Gold Mines Index (%)
S&P 500 Index (%)

Performance data quoted represents past performance, which does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the figures shown. Principal value and investment returns will fluctuate, and investors' shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Performance would have been lower if fees had not been waived in various periods. Total returns assume the reinvestment of all distributions and the deduction of all Fund expenses. Returns with sales charge reflect a deduction of the stated maximum sales charge. Returns without sales charge would have been lower had sales charges been reflected. An investor cannot invest directly in an index, and unmanaged index returns do not reflect any fees, expenses or sales charges. Returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized. 

See the risks and other important information.

Ratings 3

Morningstar logo
Overall Morningstar Rating
Overall Morningstar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars  
As of 10/31/2025
3 Years
3 Years: 4 out of 5 stars  
62 Funds in category
5 Years
5 Years: 5 out of 5 stars  
62 Funds in category
10 Years
10 Years: 3 out of 5 stars  
56 Funds in category
Rating Category
Equity Precious Metals

The fund's overall Morningstar Rating measures risk-adjusted returns and is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its 3-, 5- and 10-year (if applicable) rating metrics. 

Morningstar Style Box
As of 10/31/2025
Current Historical
Large
Medium
Small
Value Blend Growth
Style
Size

Source: Morningstar®. The style box reveals a fund's investment style. For equity funds, the vertical axis shows the market capitalization of the long stocks owned, and the horizontal axis shows the investment style (value, blend, or growth). For fixed income funds, the vertical axis shows the credit quality based on credit ratings and the horizontal axis shows interest-rate sensitivity as measured by effective duration. Placement is determined by fund portfolio holding figures most recently entered into Morningstar's database and corresponding market conditions. Shaded areas show the past 3 years of quarterly data. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

©2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Skipped to Portfolio Section Content

Portfolio

Assets

As of10/31/2025 (Updated Monthly)

Total Net Assets
$2.31 Billion

Positions

As of 10/31/2025 (Updated Monthly)

Number of Issuers
Fund
151
Benchmark
25

Portfolio Statistics

As of 10/31/2025 (Updated Monthly)

Price to Book
Fund
3.23x
Benchmark
2.97x
Weighted Average Market Capitalization (USD)
Fund
$13.89 Billion
Benchmark
$48.36 Billion
Price to Earnings (12-Month Forward)
Fund
13.08x
Benchmark
14.32x
Price to Cash Flow
Fund
11.38x
Benchmark
14.21x

Asset Allocation

As of 10/31/2025 % of Total (Updated Monthly)

Holdings Fund
Equity
98.70%
Cash & Cash Equivalents
1.30%

 

Bar chart with 2 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying values. Data ranges from 1.2985 to 98.7015.
End of interactive chart.

Holdings

As of 09/30/2025 (Updated Monthly)

G Mining Ventures Corp ORD CAD 0.000001 144A
Barrick Mining Corp ORD USD NPV
Newmont Corp IDR
Anglogold Ashanti Plc ORD USD 1
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd ORD USD NPV
Perseus Mining Ltd ORD AUD NPV
Franklin Institutional U.S. Government Money Market Fund OEMF-SWEEP MONEY MARKET PORTFOLIO
Endeavour Mining PLC ORD CAD 0.01
Equinox Gold Corp ORD CAD NPV
Greatland Resources Ltd ORD GBP 1

Portfolio holdings are based on the total portfolio and are subject to change at any time. Holdings are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell any security. 

Skipped to Distributions Section Content

Distributions & Tax

Distribution Frequency
AnnuallyThis fund is an ex-Dividend fund
Capital Gain Distributions
December

Final composition of the current year’s distribution—income, capital gains and/or return of capital—are based on US tax rules and will be determined by February of the following year. For tax characterization of a distribution, such as return of capital and tax-exempt income, click on the “Tax Information” tab above.

Distributions Per Share
Distribution amounts may be estimates

12/19/2025

Annually, a fund must distribute all realized capital gains net of realized losses, so the fund will not be subject to an entity level income tax. A fund’s capital gain distribution in a particular year may be a result of the disposition of holdings that appreciated in value during prior years. Thus, while the fund may gain or lose value over the course of a year, a capital gain distribution paid by the fund may not be indicative of current performance of the fund.

The distributable amount of net capital gains are paid on a per-share basis to all investors who hold shares of the fund on the record date of the distribution and are recognized by the shareholder for tax purposes as of the ex-date of the distribution, regardless of when the gains or losses arose in the fund. Net gains on holdings held long term by the fund would be distributed to shareholders as a long-term capital gain distribution no matter how long the shareholder has owned shares in the fund.

Refer to the fund’s annual report or statement of additional information for specific information regarding distributions.

Skipped to Pricing Section Content

Pricing

Pricing History

As of 11/13/2025 (Updated Daily)

Chart

Line chart with 9078 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying Time. Data ranges from 1969-05-19 00:00:00 to 2025-11-13 00:00:00.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying [products.performance-value]. Data ranges from 1.97 to 58.6.
End of interactive chart.

Daily Fund Prices and Breakpoints

As of 11/13/2025

Share Prices

As of 11/13/2025

NAV  1(Net Asset Value)
$42.55
NAV Change  1
$-1.00
NAV Change (%)  1
-2.30%
POP  7(Public Offering Price)
$45.03

POP and Sales Charge at Breakpoints

Less than $25,000
$25,000 - $49,999
$50,000 - $99,999
$100,000 - $249,999
$250,000 - $499,999
$500,000 - $749,999
$750,000 - $999,999

52-Week Range

Highest NAV As of 10/16/2025
$46.08
Lowest NAV As of 12/30/2024
$17.19

Sign in to view documents

Skipped to Documents Section Content

Documents

Fund Literature
Name Download Add to Cart
Factsheet - Franklin Gold and Precious Metals FundDownload Document
Product Commentary - Franklin Gold And Precious Metals FundDownload Document
Regulatory Documents
Name Download Add to Cart
Annual Report - Franklin Gold And Precious Metals Fund - Class ADownload Document
Annual Financial Statements and Other Information - Franklin Gold and Precious Metals FundDownload Document
Semi-Annual Report - Franklin Gold And Precious Metals Fund - Class ADownload Document
Semi-Annual Financial Statements and Other Information - Franklin Gold and Precious Metals FundDownload Document
Prospectus - Franklin Gold & Precious Metals FundDownload Document
Summary Prospectus - Franklin Gold & Precious Metals FundDownload Document
Statement of Additional Information - Franklin Gold & Precious Metals FundMailed hardcopies unavailable.Download Document
Fiscal Q1 Holdings - Franklin Gold & Precious Metals FundMailed hardcopies unavailable.Download Document
Fiscal Q3 Holdings - Franklin Gold & Precious Metals FundMailed hardcopies unavailable.Download Document

Sign in to view documents

Risks

All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal. To the extent the portfolio invests in a concentration of certain securities, regions or industries, it is subject to increased volatility. International investments are subject to special risks, including currency fluctuations and social, economic and political uncertainties, which could increase volatility. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. Small- and mid-cap stocks involve greater risks and volatility than large-cap stocks. The portfolio is non-diversified and may invest in a relatively small number of issuers, which may negatively impact the fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the fund's shares. The manager may consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in the research or investment process; however, ESG considerations may not be a determinative factor in security selection. In addition, the manager may not assess every investment for ESG criteria, and not every ESG factor may be identified or evaluated. These and other risks are discussed in the fund’s prospectus.

Sign in to view documents

Most funds offer multiple share classes. Share classes are subject to different fees and expenses, which will affect their performance. 

Certain share classes are only offered to eligible investors as stated in the prospectus. Different minimums may apply to clients of certain service agents. All classes of shares are not available through all distribution channels. See the Fund's prospectus for additional information.

Franklin Distributors, LLC. Member FINRA, SIPCAll entities mentioned are Franklin Templeton affiliated companies. Investment Products: NOT FDIC INSURED | NO BANK GUARANTEE | MAY LOSE VALUE.
Reports and other information about the funds are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at www.sec.gov.

You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF documents. Download a free version from Adobe's website.

Important data provider notices and terms available at www.franklintempletondatasources.com.

Performance data quoted represents past performance, which does not guarantee future results. 

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

Indexes are unmanaged and one cannot invest directly in an index. They do not reflect any fees, expenses or sales charges. 

The S&P 500 Index features 500 leading U.S. publicly traded companies, with a primary emphasis on market capitalization.
Source: © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. All rights reserve
d.

The FTSE Gold Mines Index is designed to reflect the performance of the worldwide market in the shares of companies whose principal activity is the mining of gold.
Source: FTSE.

Investors should carefully consider a fund's investment goals, risks, sales charges and expenses before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money.

Footnotes

  1. Net Asset Value - the amount per share you would receive if you sold shares that day. NAV Change indicates a change in the Net Asset Value from the previous business day.

  2. Figures are aggregate total return figures, have not been annualized and represent the change in value of an investment over the period indicated.

  3. The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or “star rating”, is calculated for managed products with at least a three-year history, and subject to change monthly. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total return, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total return. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Ratings do not take into account the effects of sales charges and loads. Morningstar Rating is for the specified share class(es) only; other classes may have different performance characteristics. 
    ©2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

  4. Gross Expense Ratio reflects the total annual operating expenses for the share class shown, prior to the deduction of any waiver or reimbursement. Actual expenses may be higher and may impact portfolio returns. Net Expense Ratio reflects total expenses after any fee waivers, implemented expense caps or reimbursements. If a fund has contractual fee waivers, expense caps and/or reimbursements, the expiration date can be found by clicking on the information button next to the net expense ratio. Additional amounts may be voluntarily waived and/or reimbursed and may be modified or discontinued at any time without notice. Expense ratios are as of the most recent prospectus or annual report.

  5. Net Expense Ratio represents the expense ratio applicable to investors. 

  6. For net asset value (NAV) purchases, a 1% contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) may apply to shares redeemed within 18 months.

  7. Public Offering Price – the purchase price for each share of the fund on a given day.  It includes the maximum initial sales charge, if any.

  8. Prior to 9/10/18, these shares were offered at a higher initial sales charge of 5.75%; thus actual returns would have differed. Total returns with sales charges have been restated to reflect the current maximum initial sales charge of 5.50%.