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3 Mutual Fund Misfires to Avoid - December 31, 2019

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Does your current advisor have your money invested in these "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" that charge high fees for low returns? If so, it may be time for a new 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.

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.

Snow Capital Small Cap Value C (SNWCX - Free Report) : 2.25% expense ratio and 0.95% management fee. SNWCX is a Small Cap Value mutual fund option, which typically invest in companies with market caps under $2 billion. With a five year after-costs return of -1.82%, you're for the most part paying more in charges than returns.

Hartford Global Real Asset R4 (HRLSX - Free Report) : 1.2% expense ratio, 0.85% management fee. HRLSX is a Global - Equity mutual fund investing in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan; these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. This fund has an annual returns of -1.82% over the last five years. Another fund guilty of having investors pay more in fees than returns.

Leader Total Return Investor (LCTRX - Free Report) : This fund has an expense ratio of 2.42% and management fee of 0.75%. LCTRX is classified in Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate fund category; these funds target the middle section of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. With an annual average return of 0.92% 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.

MSIF Global Franchise I (MSFAX - Free Report) is a fund that has an expense ratio of 0.91%, and a management fee of 0.76%. MSFAX is a Global - Equity mutual fund investing in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan; these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. With yearly returns of 11.24% over the last five years, this fund clearly wins.

T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth R (RRBGX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 1.22%. Management fee: 0.56%. RRBGX is a part of the Large Cap Growth mutual fund category, which invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. RRBGX has managed to produce a robust 13.54% over the last five years.

Janus Henderson Enterprise A (JDMAX - Free Report) has an expense ratio of 1.12% and management fee of 0.64%. JDMAX is a Mid Cap Growth mutual fund. These funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. With yearly returns of 13.18% over the last five years, this fund is well-diversified with a long reputation of salutary performance.

Bottom Line

These examples underscore the huge range in quality of mutual funds - from the really bad to the astonishingly good. There is no reason for your advisor to keep your money in any fund that charges more than you get in return (unless they're getting something out of it, like a high commission).

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