General Questions: |
Q: |
What is the minimum investment? |
A: |
The minimum initial investment in any Portfolio is $1,000 for regular and individual retirement accounts, and $100 with the establishment of an automatic investment plan. |
| |
|
Q: |
How often do the Portfolios pay a dividend? |
A: |
If applicable, dividends are paid once a year, ordinarily in December. |
| |
|
Q: |
Can I invest through my broker or agent? |
A: |
All of our Portfolios are available through brokers or other agents and are available on most of the major No-Transaction Fee (NTF) trading platforms. Keep in mind, such brokers or agents may set their own initial and/or subsequent investment minimums, and at their discretion can charge fees or other expenses to purchase or redeem shares in the Fund’s portfolios. |
| |
|
| |
|
Permanent Portfolio: |
Q: |
I like the goals of Permanent Portfolio, but couldn’t I do the same strategy on my own? |
A: |
Possibly, but it won’t be easy unless you are starting with a great deal of money and an extensive knowledge of tax planning and international investments. Permanent Portfolio can greatly reduce the burden on you the investor by pooling the assets of many investors and using its resources to gain access to major markets, professional management and tax consideration, and lower commissions on transactions. |
|
|
Q: |
Are your gold and silver allocations comprised primarily of gold and silver mining stocks? |
A: |
No. Permanent Portfolio invests in hard assets such as gold and silver bullion and coins. Mining stocks would be held in the Portfolio’s natural resource class. |
| |
|
Q: |
Where does the Fund store its precious metals? |
A: |
Our custodian, State Street Bank & Trust Company, holds the Fund’s gold and silver bullion and coins at separate domestic bank depositories, most of which are located outside of New York City, New York. All precious metals are stored in underground vaults. |
| |
|
Q: |
How often does the Fund realign its target percentages? |
A: |
Permanent Portfolio will buy or sell investments as needed to correct any discrepancy between its actual holdings in a given category and the target percentage for the category if such a discrepancy exceeds one-tenth of the target percentage. |
| |
|
Q: |
Do you ever change the target percentages for the asset classes based on market movements? |
A: |
Permanent Portfolio has maintained the same target percentages for each of the six asset classes since the Fund’s inception in 1982. Target percentages do not change with market fluctuations. |
| |
|
| |
|
Treasury Bill Portfolio: |
| Q: |
How liquid is Treasury Bill Portfolio? |
| A: |
Treasury Bill Portfolio works as a cash management tool enabling you to potentially earn relatively higher market rates on your cash, yet allowing you instant access to your money at anytime. By selecting the “Redemption by Check” option on the Shareholder Account Application, you will have the ability to write redemption checks as needed. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Does Treasury Bill Portfolio maintain a $1 share price? |
| A: |
No. Treasury Bill Portfolio is managed to reduce the tax burden on you, the investor. It does so by retaining its daily investment income, which permits the price of shares in the Portfolio to rise from day to day. Only the minimum is paid out once a year as per-share dividends in order for the Portfolio itself to avoid income tax. Your investment is available to you at any time, but it is not subject to income tax until withdrawn. It is important to note that the dividend is taxable whether you take it in cash or have it reinvested back into the Fund. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Why does Treasury Bill Portfolio invest only in U.S. Treasury securities? |
| A: |
Because U.S. Treasury securities are backed by the
full-faith-and-credit of the U.S. government, which is consistent with the fund's aim to provide a relatively safe investment strategy. This guarantee applies only to the securities in which the portfolio invests, not the portfolio's share price. |
| |
|
| |
|
Versatile Bond Portfolio: |
| Q: |
Couldn’t I earn more by investing in “junk bonds?” |
| A: |
Low-rated “junk bonds” offer especially high yields but carry too much risk for most investors. Versatile Bond Portfolio seeks high yields and attempts to mitigate risk. It invests only in bonds rated “A” or higher by Standard & Poor’s and never invests in "junk bonds." |
| |
|
| Q: |
Versatile Bond Portfolio only holds bonds that mature in two years or less. Couldn’t I get a better return on long-term issues? |
| A: |
Though returns may be higher, long-term bonds carry greater risk of price fluctuations. When interest rates rise, prices of existing long-term bonds can fall as sharply as stock prices. This is true even of long-term bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury or other government agencies. As a result, long-term bonds don’t fit the Portfolio’s conservative strategy for earning higher returns. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Can Versatile Bond Portfolio help me save for retirement? |
| A: |
Yes. The Portfolio seeks higher returns while following what we feel is a conservative strategy appropriate for retirement funds. Additionally, the Portfolio’s tax-planning advantage allows investors to defer part of their return allowing pre-tax dividends to compound faster. This strategy may help promote more capital growth over time. |
| |
|
| |
|
Aggressive Growth Portfolio: |
| Q: |
Does Aggressive Growth Portfolio seek to out-perform the market over the long term? |
| A: |
Yes. The Portfolio’s investment objective is to achieve high, long-term appreciation in the value of the Portfolio’s shares. The Portfolio’s management seeks to out-perform the stock market. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Why is Aggressive Growth Portfolio fully invested in the stock market at all times? |
| A: |
Frequent switching of capital in and out of the stock market greatly magnifies the risk of investing in stocks. Active switchers may suffer losses when the stock market declines, and then miss out on profits when the market recovers. By staying fully invested in stocks at all times, Aggressive Growth Portfolio avoids the unnecessary hazards of switching while seeking to achieve its long-term performance objectives. |
| |
|
| Q: |
Why is it important to keep some portion of one’s assets invested in the stock market at all times? |
| A: |
We believe at least part of an investor’s capital should be invested in a way that is independent of an analysts market forecasts. We believe investing in Aggressive Growth Portfolio allows investors an opportunity to profit from the economy’s health and prosperity while mitigating risk. |
Periodic Investment Plans do not assure a profit and do not protect against a loss in declining markets.
The Permanent Portfolio invests in foreign securities which will involve greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. The Portfolio will be affected by changes in the prices of gold, silver and U.S. and foreign real estate and natural resource company stocks.
The Aggressive Growth Portfolio’s stocks may appreciate in value more rapidly than the stock market, but they are also subject to greater risk, especially during periods when the prices of U.S. stock market investments in general are declining. The Portfolio also invests in smaller companies which will involve additional risks such as limited liquidity and greater volatility.
The Treasury Bill and Versatile Bond Portfolio’s investments in debt securities typically decrease in value when interest rates rise. The risk is usually greater for longer-term debt securities. An investment in the Treasury Bill Portfolio is not guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. It is therefore possible to lose money by investing in the Treasury Bill Portfolio.
