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5 Top-Rated Blackrock Mutual Funds to Buy in 2023

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Blackrock, founded in New York in the year 1988, is one of the leading investment, advisory, and risk management solutions providers. Its assets under management span various asset classes like equity, fixed income, cash management, alternative investment, and real estate.

The company manages assets for clients in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa. Its clients include corporate, public, and pension plans for unions and industry; governments, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, foundations, charities, corporations, official institutions, sovereign wealth funds, banks, financial professionals, and individuals worldwide. It has more than 18,400 employees in more than 30 countries.

BlackRock was founded as a stand-alone investment management company and focuses on providing asset and risk management services to clients. The company manages $8.6 trillion in assets under management and is the world’s largest asset manager.

Major indexes like the S&P 500, the Dow, and the Nasdaq continue to give negative returns i.e 6.5%, 0.62%, and 13.78%, respectively, in the past year mostly due to high inflation, energy crisis, geo-political tensions in the east, and COVID-19 mutations. Businesses are facing growing challenges which are affecting the broader markets. The below-mentioned funds have given a positive return and are expected to perform well in 2023 and beyond.

We have thus selected five Blackrock mutual funds that have not only preserved investors’ wealth but also generated higher returns during such adverse market conditions. Moreover, we expect them to perform well in the long term. These funds have the majority of their investments in sectors such as retail energy, industry cyclical, finance, non-durables, retail trade, technology, health and others

These funds boast a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy), have positive three-year and five-year annualized returns, minimum initial investments within $5000, and carry a low expense ratio. Notably, mutual funds, in general, reduce transaction costs and diversify portfolios without an array of commission charges mostly associated with stock purchases (read more: Mutual Funds: Advantages, Disadvantages, and How They Make Investors Money).

BlackRock Natural Resources Trust Fund (MDGRX - Free Report) invests most of its net assets in equity securities of companies with substantial natural resource assets or in securities, the value of which is related to the market value of some natural resource asset. MDGRX advisors generally invest in a portfolio of companies from industries like natural resource, energy, chemicals, oil, gas, paper, mining, steel, or agricultural products-related sectors.

Alastair Bishop has been the lead manager of MDGRX since Mar 31, 2017. Most of the fund’s exposure is in sectors like industry cyclical (47.73%), energy (36.85%), and non-durable (6.97%) as of 12/31/2022.

MDGRX’s three-year and five-year annualized returns are almost 16.3% and 8.2%, respectively. MDGRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 and an annual expense ratio of 1.17% compared to the category average of 1.11%.

To see how this fund performed compared to its category and other 1, 2, and 3 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

BlackRock Exchange Portfolio BlackRock (STSEX - Free Report) seeks to minimize capital gains by investing most of its net assets in a diversified and managed portfolio of common stocks and convertible securities, which its fund manager believes as having growth potential at the time of purchase. STSEX advisors choose to invest mostly in mid and large-market capitalization companies.

Lawrence G. Kemp has been the lead manager of STSEX since Jan 1, 2013, and most of the fund’s exposure is in sectors like technology (32.33%), finance (22.30%) and health (17.82%) as of 12/31/2022.

STSEX’s three-year and five-year annualized returns are almost 10.6% and 11.1%, respectively. STSEX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 and an annual expense ratio of 0.62%, which is less than the category average of 0.84%.

BlackRock Mid-Cap Value Fund (MDRFX - Free Report) invests most of its assets along with borrowings, if any, in a diversified portfolio of equity securities of mid-cap companies. MDRFX advisors prefer to invest in dividend-paying securities.

Tony DeSpirito has been the lead manager of MDRFX since Jun 12, 2017, and most of the fund’s exposure is in sectors like finance (21.45%), other (14.21%) and technology (13.3%) as of 12/31/2022.

MDRFX’s three-year and five-year annualized returns are almost 8.9% and 8.5%, respectively. MDRFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 and an annual expense ratio of 1.0% compared to the category average of 1.01%.

BlackRock Large Cap Focus Value Fund Investor A Shares (MDBAX - Free Report) seeks capital appreciation along with current income by investing most of its assets along with borrowings, if any, in large-cap equity securities and derivatives that have similar economic characteristics to such securities. MDBAX advisors primarily choose to invest in undervalued equity securities.

Joseph E. Wolfe has been the lead manager of MDBAX since Mar 29, 2017, and most of the fund’s exposure is in sectors like finance (28.07%), technology (19.51%) and retail trade (10.39%) as of 12/31/2022.

MDBAX’s three-year and five-year annualized returns are almost 6.2% and 6.4%, respectively. MDBAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #2 and an annual expense ratio of 0.81% compared to the category average of 0.94%.

BlackRock High Equity Income Fund (BMEAX - Free Report) invests most of its assets, along with borrowings, if any, in equity securities and equity-related instruments irrespective of its market capitalization. BMEAX also invest a comparatively small portion of its asset in equity-linked notes that provide exposure to equity securities, covered call options, and other types of financial instruments

Tony DeSpirito has been the lead manager of BMEAX since Jun 12, 2017, and most of the fund’s exposure is in sectors like other (34.42%), finance (15.46%) and technology (12.90%) as of 12/31/2022.

BMEAX’s three-year and five-year annualized returns are almost 6.1% and 6.3%, respectively. BMEAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #2 and an annual expense ratio of 1.10% compared to the category average of 1.11%.

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