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Should You Add These 3 Top-Performing Mutual Funds to Your Portfolio?

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There is never a wrong time to invest in mutual funds for retirement. So, if you're still looking for the best mutual funds, the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank can be a great guide.

How can you tell a good mutual fund from a bad one? It's pretty basic: if the fund is diversified, has low fees, and shows strong performance, it's a keeper. Of course, there's a wide range, but using the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we've found three mutual funds that would be great additions to any long-term retirement investors' portfolios.

Here are the funds that have achieved the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and have low fees.

Brown Advisory Sustainable Growth Adviser (BAWAX - Free Report) : 1.04% expense ratio and 0.53% management fee. BAWAX is a Large Cap Growth option; these mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. With annual returns of 13.66% over the last five years, this fund is a winner.

Neuberger Berman Guardian R3 (NGDRX - Free Report) is a stand out amongst its peers. NGDRX is a part of the Large Cap Value category, and invests in equities with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. With five-year annualized performance of 12.81%, expense ratio of 1.36% and management fee of 0.74%, this diversified fund is an attractive buy with a strong history of performance.

Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral (VGIAX - Free Report) . Expense ratio: 0.22%. Management fee: 0.21%. Five year annual return: 10.89%. VGIAX is classified as a Large Cap Blend fund. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a "buy and hold" mindset.

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 isn't the case, it might be time to have a conversation or reconsider this vitally important relationship.

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