First Eagle Investment Management Receives Two Lipper Awards for Global and High Yield Funds

NEW YORK, March 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- First Eagle Investment Management, an independent asset management firm with approximately $73 billion^[1] in assets under management, announced today that its First Eagle Global Fund (SGIIX) and First Eagle High Yield Fund (FEHIX) both received Lipper awards as the highest performing mutual funds in their respective categories for the 10-year and 5-year periods, respectively, ended December 31, 2012. First Eagle began offering fixed income products in 2012 following its launch of the First Eagle High Yield Fund, and this marks the first time the firm has won a Lipper award in the fixed income asset class.

The Global Fund was recognized for its top performance in the Global Flexible Portfolio category over a 10-year period out of 48 eligible funds. During that period, the fund posted an annualized return of 12.25%, outperforming its benchmark by 502 basis points. The Fund is managed by Matthew McLennan, CFA, Abhay Deshpande, CFA, and Kimball Brooker, Jr.

Similarly, the High Yield Fund was acknowledged as best performer in the High Yield category for a 5-year period, out of 373 eligible funds. The Fund has posted an annualized return of 13.36% in that period, outperforming its benchmark by 302 basis points. The Fund is managed by Edward Meigs, CFA, and Sean Slein, CFA.

"We are very proud of the outstanding results we have provided our clients with these two Funds," said John Arnhold, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of First Eagle. "Their success is a manifestation of First Eagle's thoughtful, long-term focus on absolute returns."

First Eagle Global Fund focuses on long-term growth of capital by investing in a range of asset classes from markets in the United States and around the world. The fund's investment strategy involves a bottom-up, value-oriented style.

First Eagle High Yield Fund, which seeks to provide a high level of current income, also uses a bottom-up strategy and focuses on fundamental credit research to maximize risk-adjusted returns by modifying risk exposure through the high-yield credit cycle.

First Eagle Investment Management, LLC serves as the adviser to the First Eagle Funds as well as offering a variety of other investment services. Among its clients are corporations, foundations, endowments, major retirement programs and individuals. The firm, which has its corporate offices on the Avenue of the Americas in New York, employs approximately 168 professionals and has approximately $73 billion under management, as of December 31, 2012.

^[1] As of December 31, 2012

About Lipper Fund Awards
The Lipper Fund Awards are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence, a global family of awards that celebrate exceptional performance throughout the professional investment community. The Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence recognize the world's top funds, fund management firms, sell-side firms, research analysts, and investor relations teams. The Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence also include the Extel Survey Awards, the StarMine Analyst Awards, and the StarMine Broker Rankings. For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit excellence.thomsonreuters.com

Lipper Fund Awards are based on Lipper's Consistent Return calculation. Lipper scores for Consistent Return reflect funds' historical risk-adjusted returns relative to funds in the same Lipper classification and include each fund's expenses and reinvested distributions, but exclude sales charges. Consistent Return values are calculated with all eligible share classes for each eligible classification. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return value within each eligible classification determines the fund classification winner over three, five or 10 years. Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, is a leading global provider of mutual fund information and analysis to fund companies, financial intermediaries and media organizations.

Reference to a ranking, a rating or an award does not provide any guarantee of future performance, and is subject to change over time.

The performance data quoted herein represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Market volatility can dramatically impact the fund's short-term performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than figures shown. The investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Past performance data through the most recent month end is available at firsteaglefunds.com or by calling 800.334.2143. The average annual returns for Class A Shares "with sales charge" of First Eagle Global Fund give effect to the deduction of the maximum sales charge of 5.00%.

* The annual expense ratio is based on expenses incurred by the fund, as stated in the most recent prospectus.

**High Yield Fund Class I Shares require $1MM minimum investment, and are offered without sales charge. Performance information is for Class I Shares without the effect of sales charges and assumes all distributions have been reinvested and if a sales charge was included values would be lower. Class A and C Shares of the First Eagle High Yield Fund have maximum sales charges of 4.50% and 1.00% respectively, and 12b-1 fees, which reduce performance.

⁺The High Yield Fund commenced operations in its present form on December 30, 2011, and is successor to another mutual fund pursuant to a reorganization December 30, 2011. Information prior to December 30, 2011 is for the predecessor fund. Immediately after the reorganization, changes in net asset value of the Class I shares were partially impacted by differences in how the Fund and the predecessor fund price portfolio securities.

***Gross operating expenses are the actual fund operating expenses prior to the application of fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements. The Adviser has contractually agreed to limit operating expenses of the Fund to an annual rate of 0.80% for I Shares, 1.25% for A Shares, and 2.00% for C Shares, with gross operating expenses of 1.03%, 1.27%, and 2.02% respectively. This limitation excludes certain expenses as described in the Fees and Expenses section of the prospectus. This limitation will continue until December 31, 2013. The expense limitation may be terminated by the Adviser in future years.

There are risks associated with investing in funds that invest in securities of foreign countries, such as erratic market conditions, economic and political instability and fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Investment in gold and gold related investments present certain risks, and returns on gold related investments have traditionally been more volatile than investments in broader equity or debt markets.

The principal risk of investing in value stocks is that the price of the security may not approach its anticipated value or may decline in value.

The High Yield Fund invests in high yield securities (commonly known as ''junk bonds'') which are generally considered speculative because they may be subject to greater levels of interest rate, credit (including issuer default) and liquidity risk than investment grade securities and may be subject to greater volatility. The Fund invests in high yield securities that are non-investment grade. High yield, lower rated securities involve greater price volatility and present greater risks than high rated fixed income securities. High yield securities are rated lower than investment-grade securities because there is a greater possibility that the issuer may be unable to make interest and principal payments on those securities.

The High Yield Fund's investment strategies may result in high turnover rates. This may increase the Fund's brokerage commission costs, which would reduce performance. Rapid portfolio turnover also exposes shareholders to a higher current realization of short-term gains, which could cause you to pay higher taxes.

Bank loans are often less liquid than other types of debt instruments. There is no assurance that the liquidation of any collateral from a secured bank loan would satisfy the borrower's obligation, or that such collateral could be liquidated.

2013 Best Global Flexible Fund is based on the ten-year risk-adjusted performance among 48 eligible global flexible funds for the period ended Dec. 31, 2012.

2013 Best High Current Yield Fund is based on the five-year risk-adjusted performance among 373 high current yield funds for the period ended Dec. 31, 2012.

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 three, five, or ten years. Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. Additional information is available at www.lipperweb.com. Lipper leader ratings copyright 2011, Reuters. All Rights Reserved

The First Eagle Funds are offered by FEF Distributors, LLC, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of a fund carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information about the fund, and may be obtained by contacting your financial adviser, visiting our website at firsteaglefunds.com or calling us at 800.334.2143. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. Investments are not FDIC insured or bank guaranteed, and may lose value.

SOURCE First Eagle Investment Management