3 Mutual Fund Misfires To Avoid In Your Retirement Portfolio - March 24, 2020

You may need to start looking for a new financial advisor if your current one has put any of these high-fee, low-return "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" into your portfolio.

High fees plus poor performance: It's a pretty simple formula for a bad mutual fund. Some are worse than others - and some are so bad that they have earned a "Strong Sell" on the Zacks Rank, the lowest ranking of the nearly 19,000 mutual funds we rank daily.

Below, you'll read about some of the funds included in our current list of "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market." And if by chance you're invested in any of these misfires, we'll help and review some of our highest Zacks Ranked mutual funds.

3 Mutual Fund Misfires

Now, let's take a look at three market misfires.

Leader Short-Term Bond Fund C (LCMCX): Expense ratio: 2.35%. Management fee: 0.75%. After expenses, the 5 year return is -0.43%, meaning your fees are far higher than the fund's returns.

America First Income Trends I (AFPIX). Expense ratio: 1.56%. Management fee: 0.75%. Over the last 5 years, this fund has generated annual returns of 0.77%.

Hartford Global Real Asset A (HRLAX): Expense ratio: 1.25%. Management fee: 0.8%. HRLAX is a Global - Equity mutual fund, which invests their assets in large markets, leveraging the global economy. With annual returns of just 0.63%, it's no surprise this fund has received Zacks' "Strong Sell" ranking.

3 Top Ranked Mutual Funds

There you have it: some prime examples of truly bad mutual funds. In contrast, here are a few funds that have achieved high Zacks Ranks and have low fees.

MassMutual Select Mid Cap Growth R4 (MEFFX) is a winner, with an expense ratio of just 1.16% and a five-year annualized return track record of 11.93%.

AllianzGI BestStylesU.S.EqtyFdCl R6 (ALSEX): Expense ratio: 0.4%. Management fee: 0.3%. ALSEX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, and these mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a "buy and hold" mindset. ALSEX has managed to produce a robust 10.52% over the last five years.

American Funds Wash Mutl Invs R2E (RWEBX) has an expense ratio of 1.07% and management fee of 0.23%. RWEBX is a Large Cap Value mutual fund, which invests in stocks with a market cap of $10 billion of more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. With yearly returns of 10.11% over the last five years, this fund is well-diversified with a long reputation of salutary performance.

Bottom Line

We hope that your investment advisor (if you use one) has you invested in one or all of the top-ranked mutual funds we've reviewed. But if that is not the case, and your advisor has you invested in any of the funds on our "worst offender" list, it might be time to have a conversation or reconsider this vitally important relationship.

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