Back to top

Image: Bigstock

3 Mutual Fund Misfires to Avoid - November 21, 2019

Read MoreHide Full Article

If your financial advisor made you buy any of these "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" with high expenses and low returns, you need to reassess your advisor.

The easiest way to judge a mutual fund's quality over time is by analyzing its performance and fees. Our Zacks Rank of over 19,000 mutual funds has identified some of the worst of the worst mutual funds you should avoid, the funds with the highest fees and poorest long-term performance.

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.

ProFunds UltraLatin America Investor (UBPIX - Free Report) : This fund has an expense ratio of 1.69% and a management fee of 0.75%. Without even doing any in-depth analysis, just the fact that you are paying more in fees than you're earning in returns is reason enough not to invest. UBPIX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. The fund has lagged performance-wise, so perhaps a simpler index future investing strategy might be more effective.

Victory RS Global Natural Resources C (RGNCX - Free Report) : 2.28% expense ratio, 1% management fee. RGNCX is a Sector - Energy mutual fund, which encompasses a wide range of vastly changing and vitally important industries throughout this massive global sector. This fund has an annual returns of -24.53% over the last five years. Another fund guilty of having investors pay more in fees than returns.

Catalyst/SMH Total Return Income C (TRICX - Free Report) - 2.32% expense ratio, 1% management fee. TRICX 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. TRICX has generated annual returns of 0.52% 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.

MFS Mass Investors Growth Stock A (MIGFX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 0.71%. Management fee: 0.33%. MIGFX 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. This fund has achieved five-year annual returns of an astounding 12.36%.

ClearBridge Small Cap Growth I (SBPYX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 0.91%. Management fee: 0.75%. SBPYX is one of many Small Cap Growth mutual funds; these funds tend to create their portfolios around stocks with market capitalization of less than $2 billion. SBPYX has managed to produce a robust 11.06% over the last five years.

Victory Sycamore Small Company Opportunity I (VSOIX - Free Report) has an expense ratio of 0.92% and management fee of 0.76%. VSOIX is a Small Cap Value mutual fund option, which typically invest in companies with market caps under $2 billion. With yearly returns of 11.51% over the last five years, this fund is well-diversified with a long reputation of salutary performance.

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.

Published in