Investors looking to gain exposure to both equity and fixed income securities may consider balanced mutual funds. Also, these mutual funds are believed to provide greater returns than pure, fixed income investments while maintaining a low volatility level.
The proportion of equity and fixed income investments in these funds may also vary in response to market conditions. While managers may increase the share of fixed income securities during a downturn to avoid losses, the share of equity securities may be increased in a bullish market. Hence, these funds are expected to harness the inherent strengths of both classes of investments.
Below we share with you three top-ranked balanced mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of balanced mutual funds, their Zacks Rank and past performance.
Columbia Capital Allocation Aggressive A AXBAX seeks growth of return. AXBAX is known as a "fund of funds" which primarily invests in a combination of underlying funds for which the investment manager acts as principal underwriter. The fund may also invest almost one-fifth of its assets in other funds, which include third party advised funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs), equity securities and fixed income securities. Columbia Capital Allocation Aggressive A has returned 6.8% in the last three-year period.
AXBAX has an expense ratio of 0.50% compared with the category average of 0.84%.
Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor BIAFX invests a bulk of its assets in a wide range of portfolio of equity securities issued by medium and large market capitalization companies. The fund may also invest almost 15% of its assets in non-U.S. securities, which include emerging markets. BIAFX seeks appreciation of capital for the long run. Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor has returned 8.9% in the last three-year period.
R. Hutchings Vernon is the fund manager of BIAFX since 2008.
AdvisorOne CLS Global Aggressive Equity N CLACX seeks strong growth for the long run. CLACX invests the lion’s share of its assets in equity securities. The fund invests in underlying funds which look for appreciation of capital. The fund normally invests in ETFs, and in open- and close-end funds. AdvisorOne CLS Global Aggressive Equity N has returned 6.9% in the last three-year period.
As of January 2017, CLACX held 31 issues, with 8.99% of its assets invested in VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF.
To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all balanced mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.
Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing mutual funds, each week. Get it free >>
Get Your Free (CLACX): Fund Analysis Report
Get Your Free (BIAFX): Fund Analysis Report
Get Your Free (AXBAX): Fund Analysis Report
Original post
Zacks Investment Research