USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund Receives 2010 Lipper Fund Award

Award Marks Sixth Straight Year the Fund Has Earned the Top Spot in Lipper’s Gold-Oriented Funds Category for the 10-Year Period

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- USAA today announced that the USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund (USAGX) has earned the Lipper Fund Award* for its performance in the gold-oriented funds category for the 10-year period. The 2010 award marks the sixth consecutive year that the fund has achieved the top spot in this category for the 10-year period.

Co-managed by Mark Johnson, vice president, and Dan Denbow, assistant vice president of equity investments at USAA, the fund ranked No. 1 out of 29 funds in the gold-oriented category for the 10-year period ending Dec. 31, 2009. Lipper Fund Awards are calculated using risk adjusted consistent returns relative to peers for the 3-, 5- and 10-year time periods.

“This award underscores the superior performance of USAA’s equity management team,” said Dan McNamara, president of USAA Investment Management Company and Financial Planning. “Their commitment to achieving consistent, positive returns over the long-term no matter the market environment is what allows us to provide investors with the best combination of service and performance.”

The fund also earned three Lipper Performance Achievement Certificates** in the gold-oriented funds category for its performance for the 5-, 10- and 15-year periods ending Dec. 31, 2009. Certificates are awarded to funds with returns that top their Lipper category over 1-, 5-, 10- or 15-year periods.

USAA mutual funds are available to individual investors through usaa.com or by calling 1-800-531-0853.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the USAA mutual funds carefully before investing. Contact us at 800-531-8910 for a prospectus containing this and other information about the funds from USAA Investment Management Company, Distributor. Read it carefully before investing.

The USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund is subject to additional risks, such as currency fluctuation, market liquidity, political instability and increased price volatility.It may be more volatile than a fund that diversifies across many industries and companies.

About USAA

USAA provides insurance, banking, investment and retirement products and services to 7.4 million members of the U.S. military and their families. Known for its legendary commitment to its members, USAA is consistently recognized for outstanding service and employee well-being. USAA membership is open to all who are serving or have honorably served our nation in the U.S. military – and their families. For more information about USAA, or to learn more about membership, visit usaa.com.

Lipper ranked the USAA Precious Metals and Minerals Fund No. 1 out of 51, No. 1 out of 29 and No. 1 out of 18 gold-oriented funds for the 5-, 10- and 15-year periods respectively for the period ended Dec. 31, 2009.

*Gold-oriented Lipper Fund Award is for the 10-year risk adjusted performance among 29 eligible funds for the period ended Dec. 31, 2009. Fund classification averages are calculated with all eligible share classes for each eligible classification. The calculation periods extend over 36, 60 and 120 months. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) value within each eligible classification determines the fund classification winner over 3-, 5- or 10 years.

**Lipper Performance Achievement Certificatesare awards to fund portfolios that ranked first in their investment objective/Lipper classification over various time periods. Certificates are awarded for all investment objectives/Lipper classifications as well as for the overall fund universe. Certificates are awarded for the open-end equity funds, open-end fixed income funds, closed-end funds, and variable underlying funds universes. Certificates are awarded once a year as of Dec. 31st. Certificates are awarded for performance over a 1-, 5-, 10- and 15-year time period for open-end equity funds. All other universes receive awards over the 1-, 5- and 10-year time periods. Awards are based upon cumulative total return. A winner is awarded if there are five or more portfolios in the investment objective/Lipper classification for the length of the relevant time period. The category fund count is inclusive of all classes of shares. For the purpose of comparison, a fund is categorized at the end of the time period and will be compared to those peers in the relevant time period. A winner is awarded if there are no “significant events” that eliminate the fund from the category. A significant event occurs when a fund has been re-classified during the performance award time period. (For example, a fund that had a fundamental change in investment policy which caused it to switch Lipper classifications during the relevant time period.)

For USAA
Kristy Wilson, 770-435-0340
[email protected]
Twitter: @USAA_news

Source: USAA