Top Income Equity Funds

Today we are featuring top-performing "Income" equity mutual funds, which chiefly invest in equity securities of companies with income as the prime objective.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire Zacks #1 Rank Income Equity Funds list.

3 Thriving Samples

Principal Inflation Protection A (PITAX) was incepted in June 2005. The fund seeks to provide current income and real (after-inflation) total returns.

The fund normally invests primarily in inflation-indexed bonds of varying maturities issued by the U.S. and non-U.S. governments, their agencies or instrumentalities, and U.S. and non-U.S. corporations. It may invest up to 15% of its assets in non-investment-grade bonds or securities of emerging-market issuers.

Unit holders have to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank ("Strong Buy") fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90%.

Federated Market Opportunity A (FMAAX) seeks to provide absolute returns with a low correlation to the U.S. equity market by investing globally in a wide variety of asset classes. It focuses on domestic and foreign securities (both debt and equity) that are undervalued or out of favor.

The fund may sell securities short and can have an overall net long or short position relative to particular asset classes. It may also invest in derivative contracts. As of January 2009, its portfolio turnover was 255%.

Goldcorp Inc. (GG - Snapshot Report), Veolia Environnement and Bunge Ltd. (BG - Snapshot Report) are among the fund's key holdings.

HighMark Income Plus Allocation A (HMPAX) seeks income and secondarily capital appreciation, and to add value over the long-term through a combination of asset allocation and security selection.

The fund is Ideal for investors who wish to allocate their assets conservatively with a fixed-income focus. It has allocated 56.46% of its assets in fixed income, 28.83% in U.S. large-cap equity, 6.31% in U.S. small-cap equity, 4.31% in international assets and 4.09% in cash.

The fund has been managed by David Goerz since its inception in October 2004. Goerz has 18 years of experience in the investment management industry. The fund has topped the total returns of its benchmark index in the last 1- and 3-year periods.

Discover Many More Funds

Learn more about the new Zacks Mutual Fund Rank and discover some of the best market-beating mutual funds by browsing our new mutual funds section. This part of Zacks.com offers a variety of tools, including mutual fund research, a new mutual fund screener/>, helpful answers to frequently asked questions and quick access to prospectuses and other information.

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.