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3 Mutual Fund Misfires To Avoid In Your Retirement Portfolio - October 31, 2019

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If your advisor has you invested in any of these "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" with high fees and low returns, you need to rethink your advisor.

High fees coupled with poor results: It's a straightforward equation for an awful mutual fund. Some are more regrettable than others - and some are bad to the point that they have got a "Strong Sell" from our Zacks Rank, the lowest positioning of the almost 19,000 mutual funds we rank every day.

First, let's break down some of the funds currently part of our "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market." If you happen to have put your money into any of these misfires, we'll help assess some of our best Zacks Ranked mutual funds.

3 Mutual Fund Misfires

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

Legg Mason BW Absolute Return Opportunity R (LBARX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 1.45%. Management fee: 0.64%. After expenses, the 5 year return is 0.11%, meaning your fees are far higher than the fund's returns.

Wells Fargo Absolute Return C (WARCX - Free Report) : WARCX is an Allocation Balanced mutual fund. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, and including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. WARCX offers an expense ratio of 2.28% and annual returns of 0.7% over the last five years. Even if this fund can be positioned as a hedge during the recent bull-market, paying more in fees than returns over the long-term should never be an acceptable result.

Guinness Atkinson Renminbi Yuan & Bond (GARBX - Free Report) : This fund has an expense ratio of 0.91% and management fee of 0.55%. GARBX is an International Bond - Emerging mutual fund, which focus on fixed income securities from emerging nations around the globe. With an annual average return of -0.22% over the last five years, the only thing absolute about this absolute return fund is that it absolutely deserves to be on our "worst offender" list.

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.

Madison Mid-Cap Fund R6 (MMCRX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 0.77%. Management fee: 0.75%. MMCRX is a Mid Cap Growth mutual fund. These funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. This fund has achieved five-year annual returns of an astounding 12.56%.

JPMorgan Small Cap Growth I (OGGFX - Free Report) has an expense ratio of 0.99% and management fee of 0.65%. OGGFX is a Small Cap Growth mutual fund and tends to feature small companies in up-and-coming industries and markets. Thanks to yearly returns of 13.81% over the last five years, OGGFX is an effectively diversified fund with a long reputation of solidly positive performance.

Eaton Vance Atlanta Capital Select Equity I (ESEIX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 0.8%. Management fee: 0.7%. ESEIX 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. ESEIX has produced a 13.3% over the last five years.

Bottom Line

Along these lines, there you have it - if your financial guide has you put your money into any of our "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market," there is a strong likelihood that they are either dormant at the worst possible time, inept, or (in all probability) filling their pockets with high fee commissions at the cost of your financial objectives.

If you have concerns or any doubts about your investment advisor, read our just-released report:

4 Warning Signs That Your Advisor Might be Sabotaging Your Financial Future

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