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3 Long-Term Government Bond Funds for Solid Returns

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Risk-averse investors looking to earn a stable and regular income may consider long-term bond mutual funds. These mutual funds are believed to provide regular income while protecting the capital invested. While mutual funds from this category seek to provide dividends more frequently than individual bonds, they offer greater stability than those primarily focusing on equity securities. Long-term bond funds, which have an average maturity period between 10 years and 30 years, generally offer safer options in comparison to short and mid-term ones.

Below we share with you three top-ranked long-term government bond funds, namely Hussman Strategic Total Return Fund (HSTRX - Free Report) , Rydex Government Long Bond 1.2x Strategy Fund Investor Class (RYGBX - Free Report) and Calvert Core Bond Fund Class A (CLDAX - Free Report) . Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.

Hussman Strategic Total Return Fund invests mainly in fixed-income securities, such as U.S. Treasury bonds, strips, notes and bills, treasury inflation-protected securities and investment-grade corporate debts. HSTRX has returned 7.4% over the past three years.

HSTRX has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared with the category average of 1.29%.

Rydex Government Long Bond 1.2x Strategy Fund Investor Class seeks to provide investment results that correspond to 120% of the daily price movement of the Long-term Treasury Bond for U.S. government securities. RYGBX invests the majority of its net assets in fixed-income securities issued by the U.S. government. The fund has returned 2.5% over the past three years.

Michael P. Byrum has been one of the fund managers of RYGBX since 1999.

Calvert Core Bond Fund Class A invests the majority of its net assets in investment grade, U.S. dollar-denominated debt securities and a part in below-investment-grade high-yield debt instruments (junk bonds). CLDAX has returned 5.5% over the past three years.

CLDAX has 45.1% of its assets invested in Total Misc Bonds.

To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all long-term government bond funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of long-term government bond funds.

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