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3 Mutual Fund Misfires To Avoid In Your Retirement Portfolio - January 09, 2020

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You may need to start looking for a new financial advisor if your current one has put any of these high-fee, low-return "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" into your portfolio.

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.

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.

Janus Henderson Diversified Alternatives T : 1.29% expense ratio and 1% management fee. JDATX is classified as an Allocation Balanced fund, which seeks to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, and including precious metals or commodities is not unusual. With a five year after-costs return of 1%, you're for the most part paying more in charges than returns.

Catalyst Hedged Futures Strategy C : HFXCX is a Long Short - Equity option. These funds' investment strategy consists of minimizing overall market exposure, while at the same time taking long positions in equities that are expected to appreciate and short positions in equities that are projected to decline. HFXCX offers an expense ratio of 3.08% and annual returns of -4.82% 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.

MainStay Emerging Markets Opportunity C - 2.8% expense ratio, 1% management fee. MEOCX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. MEOCX has generated annual returns of -0.61% over the last five years. Ouch!

3 Top Ranked Mutual Funds

Since you've seen the most noticeably lowest Zacks Ranked mutual funds, how about we take a look at some of the top ranked mutual funds with the least fees.

ClearBridge Dividend Strategy Y (SOPYX - Free Report) is a fund that has an expense ratio of 0.73%, and a management fee of 0.65%. SOPYX is classified as an Allocation Balanced fund, which seeks to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, and including precious metals or commodities is not unusual. With yearly returns of 10.36% over the last five years, this fund clearly wins.

Hartford Core Equity C (HGICX - Free Report) has an expense ratio of 1.48% and management fee of 0.35%. HGICX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, and these mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a "buy and hold" mindset. With annual returns of 11.15% over the last five years, this is a well-diversified fund with a long track record of success.

Capital Group US Equity (CUSEX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 0.43%. Management fee: 0.43%. CUSEX 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. CUSEX has produced a 10.61% 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.

Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes?

Whether you're planning to retire early or not, don't let investing mistakes derail your plans.

If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click the link to download our free report, 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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Hartford Core Equity C (HGICX) - free report >>

ClearBridge Dividend Strategy I (SOPYX) - free report >>

Capital Group US Equity (CUSEX) - free report >>

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