The Tocqueville Fund (MUTF: TGLDX) is a sector fund, investing primarily in … well, gold investments. The Tocqueville fund is tied to previous metals, but this specific focus can be good for your portfolio depending on your personal strategy.

Tocqueville Fund invests in common stocks of mid-sized U.S. and foreign companies that specialize in gold and mineral production. Gold and mineral funds like this one have gained favor in recent years as investors seek safer havens against the declining dollar, euro, and in times of defaulting governments and rising commodity prices.  The fund may appeal to long-term investors who worry about the global recovery and inflation, but is not diversified.  Note that if gold or precious metals take a sudden fall, so will the fund

Here are the specifics for the Tocqueville Fund for today’s mutual funds spotlight:

Investing Strategy:   The fund’s manager likes to invest in U.S. and foreign companies that have strong long-term business fundamentals, but their company shares trades at a discount. The manager may in fact identify a company it wants to invest in when its stock price is high but wait to buy it when the stock is undervalued. The goal is to buy the stock at its lowest price to avoid losing any principal investment and reap the fullest possible return.  82% of the fund’s assets are in common stocks, nearly 8% is in cash, and the remaining 10% is invested directly in gold bullion other precious metals, and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

Expense Ratio: With a 1.35% expense ratio and no transaction fee, the Tocqueville Fund is low to modestly priced compared to other funds in the category, but is one of the few category performers with a Morningstar rating of 5 stars.

Top 5 Holdings: The top stocks in the Tocqueville Fund include gold and mineral exploration companies, Goldcorp, Inc. (NYSE: GG) at 5.58%  and  Ivanhoe Mines, Ltd. (NYSE: IVN) at 5.53% ,  Physical Gold at 5.51%,  silver mining company Silver Wheaton Corporation (NYSE: SLW) at 4.63%, and vehicles designer and producer Osisko Mining Corporation (NYSE: OSK) at 4.48%.

Returns: The one-year return of 30.7% outperformed the broader market’s return of 20.5% during the same period. Its 5-year return of 65% dwarfed the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s and S&P 500’s respective 13.1% and 61% 5-year returns.

Other Fund Statistics

• Total Assets: $2.9 billion (as of 5/19/11)
• Minimum Investment: $2,500
• Fund manager: John C. Hathaway
• Manager’s Tenure: Since June 1998