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Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market - December 27, 2019

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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.

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.

Marketfield A (MFADX - Free Report) : 2.63% expense ratio and 1.4% management fee. MFADX is a Long Short - Equity fund, and these funds aim to minimize exposure to the broader market, taking long positions in equities that are expected to appreciate and short positions in equities that are projected to decline. With a five year after-costs return of -2.29%, you're for the most part paying more in charges than returns.

Guidemark Opportunity Fixed Income Service Class . Expense ratio: 1.55%. Management fee: 1.4%. Over the last 5 years, this fund has generated annual returns of 0.82%.

Timothy Plan Emerging Markets C : This fund has an expense ratio of 3.33% and management fee of 1.2%. TPECX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. With an annual average return of -2.19% over the last five years, the only thing absolute about this absolute return fund is that it absolutely deserves to be on our "worst offender" list.

3 Top Ranked Mutual Funds

Now that we've covered our "worst offender" list, let's take a look at some of Zacks' highest ranked mutual funds with some of the lowest fees you may want to consider.

Principal Mid Cap Institutional (PCBIX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 0.7%. Management fee: 0.58%. PCBIX is a Mid Cap Growth mutual fund. These mutual funds choose companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion. This fund has achieved five-year annual returns of an astounding 13.48%.

MFS Mass Investors Growth Stock I (MGTIX - Free Report) has an expense ratio of 0.48% and management fee of 0.33%. MGTIX 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. With annual returns of 13.9% over the last five years, this is a well-diversified fund with a long track record of success.

Victory Sycamore Established Value R (GETGX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 1.14%. Management fee: 0.45%. GETGX is a Mid Cap Value mutual funds that aims to target medium-sized companies that possess strong value and income opportunities for investors. GETGX has produced a 10.3% 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.

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