The Answer to What Drives Emerging Markets

1. It's the rapidly growing urban populations.
2. It's the fact that emerging countries need improved roads, ports, airports.
3. It's the investment in commodities, such as oil, coal, iron ore, steel and cement.
4. It's the affinity for gold.

Our experience researching and meeting with companies around the world dictates that we create a fifth choice, “All of the above.”

The latest Shareholder Report magazine shows how these trends are intertwined. Our natural resources outlook focuses on how experts anticipate infrastructure spending to be in the trillions in several emerging market countries over the next few years. And gold demand continues to grow because of the developing markets' rising wealth linked with a traditional affinity for the metal, and the accumulation of gold by central banks.

In a new feature entitled, “Minute with the Manager,” we sit down with Tim Steinle, the co-manager of the Eastern European Fund (EUROX), in between his trips around the region. Learn where he'll be focusing his attention in 2011. You can also watch parts of the interview by clicking here.

Like Tim, all of our fund managers continuously try to find the best investment opportunities. That's how we believe we can deliver superior investment performance over the long-term. Read my letter to see how our shareholders have benefitted from our experience.

Click on the link below to see the online version of Shareholder Report now. If you would like a hard copy, send us an email at editor@usfunds.com.

Download the Report.

Please consider carefully a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For this and other important information, obtain a fund prospectus by visiting www.usfunds.com or by calling 1-800-US-FUNDS (1-800-873-8637). Read it carefully before investing. Distributed by U.S. Global Brokerage, Inc.

Foreign and emerging market investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and less public disclosure, as well as economic and political risk. By investing in a specific geographic region, a regional fund's returns and share price may be more volatile than those of a less concentrated portfolio. The Eastern European Fund invests more than 25% of its investments in companies principally engaged in the oil & gas or banking industries.  The risk of concentrating investments in this group of industries will make the fund more susceptible to risk in these industries than funds which do not concentrate their investments in an industry and may make the fund's performance more volatile.