4 Best Funds To Buy On Bull-Market's 10th Anniversary

The current bull market, the longest in American history, turns a decade old on Mar 9. Wall Street’s benchmark index, the S&P 500, has gained more than 300% since then.

A bull market is usually defined as a continuous increase in stock prices (based on a stock’s closing price) minus a 20% drop from its peak. The S&P 500 has grown by leaps and bounds since American stocks marked their post-financial crisis.

Technology and Biotechnology sectors have been the highest gainers in the last 10 years. The unprecedented growth in technology is because of ecommerce dominance and rapid expansion of companies offering ecommerce services. The FAANG stocks (Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)) have boosted the S&P 500 index significantly, now constituting more than 11% of it.

The growth in biotechnology sector can be attributed to the advancement in biomedical technology. In addition, wealthy populations aging around the globe has boosted demand for medical technologies, the likes of which are offered by companies such as Abiomed Inc.

United States’ longest bull market may keep up, given the Fed’s decision to freeze interest rates for the rest of this year, the possibility of a favorable U.S.-China trade deal and for as long as companies keep raking in good profits.

Therefore it might be prudent to pick funds that invest in technology and biotechnology sectors at present.

4 Mutual Funds to Buy

We have selected a couple of mutual funds you could consider adding to your portfolio. These funds carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Moreover, these funds have encouraging three and five-year returns. Additionally, the minimum initial investment is within $5,000.

We expect these funds to outperform peers in the future. Remember, the goal of the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is to guide investors to identify potential winners and losers. Unlike most of the fund-rating systems, the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is not just focused on past performance but also on the likely future success of the fund.

The question here is: why should investors consider mutual funds? Reduced transaction costs and diversification of portfolio without several commission charges that are associated with stock purchases are primarily why one should be parking money in mutual funds (read more: Mutual Funds: Advantages, Disadvantages, and How They Make Investors Money).

Red Oak Technology Select ROGSX seeks long-term capital growth by primarily investing in stocks of companies that operate in the technology sector. The fund mostly invests in stocks of American companies.

This Sector – Tech product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

ROGSXhas an annual expense ratio of 0.94%, which is below the category average of 1.31%. The fund has three and five-year returns of 26.3% and 16.3%, respectively.The minimum initial investment for ROGSXis $2000.

T. Rowe Price Communications & Tech Investor PRMTX seeks long-term capital appreciation by primarily investing in stocks of technology and communications companies. The non-diversified fund may invest in both U.S. and non-U.S. companies.

This Sector – Tech product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

PRMTXhas an annual expense ratio of 0.78%, which is below the category average of 1.38%. The fund has three and five-year returns of 20.1% and 12.6%, respectively.The minimum initial investment for PRMTXis $2500.

Vanguard Health Care Investor VGHCX seeks long-term capital growth by investing a majority of its assets in stocks of companies primarily engaged in the healthcare industry. The fund may also invest in biochemical, diagnostic and companies engaged in research and development activities. The fund may invest up to half of its assets in foreign companies.

This Sector – Health product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

VGHCXhas an annual expense ratio of 0.38%, which is below the category average of 1.28%. The fund has three and five-year returns of 10.4% and 9.4%, respectively.The minimum initial investment for VGHCXis $3000.

Fidelity Select Biotechnology FBIOX seeks long-term capital growth by investing at least 80% of its net assets in common stocks of companies engaged in research, development and manufacture of biotechnological products and services. The fund also invests in companies that benefit from advancements in the field of biotechnology. The non-diversified fund may invest in both U.S. and non-U.S. companies.

This Sector – Health product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

FBIOXhas an annual expense ratio of 0.73%, which is below the category average of 1.28%. The fund has three and five-year returns of 14.8% and 5.5%, respectively.The minimum initial investment for FBIOXis $2500.

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