Are You Invested In These 3 Mutual Fund Misfires? - March 20, 2020

If your financial advisor made you buy any of these "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" with high expenses and low returns, you need to reassess your advisor.

The easiest way to judge a mutual fund's quality over time is by analyzing its performance and fees. Our Zacks Rank of over 19,000 mutual funds has identified some of the worst of the worst mutual funds you should avoid, the funds with the highest fees and poorest long-term performance.

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.

Third Avenue Value Fund Institutional (TAVFX): 1.15% expense ratio and 0.9% management fee. TAVFX is a Small Cap Value mutual fund, investing in small companies with stock market valuation less than $2 billion. With a five year after-expenses return of -1.07%, you're mostly paying more in fees than returns.

Wasatch Frontier Emerging Small Countries Fund (WAFMX): 2.2% expense ratio, 1.65%. WAFMX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. This fund has yearly returns of -0.55% over the most recent five years. Another fund liable of having investors pay more in charges than what they receive in return.

Thornburg Limited Term Municipal CA C (LTCCX) - 1.21% expense ratio, 0.5% management fee. LTCCX is a Muni - Bonds mutual fund, which focus their investments on debt securities issued by state and local governments; these are typically used to pay for the construction of infrastructure, the operation of public schools, and other municipal functions. LTCCX has generated annual returns of 0.97% over the last five years. Ouch!

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.

Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX): 0.72% expense ratio and 0.54% management fee. FSMEX is classified as a Sector - Health fund. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and these kinds of mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. With an annual return of 17.27% over the last five years, this fund is a winner.

Principal Blue Chip Fund I (PBCKX) has an expense ratio of 0.67% and management fee of 0.61%. PBCKX is a Large Cap Growth mutual fund, and these funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers. With annual returns of 16.15% over the last five years, this is a well-diversified fund with a long track record of success.

MFS Global New Discovery I (GLNIX): Expense ratio: 1.26%. Management fee: 0.98%. GLNIX is a Global - Equity mutual fund investing in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan; these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. GLNIX has produced a 11.21% over the last five years.

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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