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Does Your Retirement Portfolio Hold These 3 Mutual Fund Misfires? - February 03, 2020

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You may need to start looking for a new financial advisor if your current one has put any of these high-fee, low-return "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" into your portfolio.

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.

MainStay Cushing Royalty Energy Income I : This fund has an expense ratio of 1.2% and a management fee of 0.95%. 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. CURZX is classified as a Sector - Energy mutual fund. Throughout the massive global energy sector, these funds hold a wide range of quickly changing and vitally important industries. The fund has lagged performance-wise, so perhaps a simpler index future investing strategy might be more effective.

Arbitrage Tactical Equity I : 2.18% expense ratio, 1.25%. ATQIX is a Long Short - Equity option. These funds' investment strategy consists of minimizing overall market exposure, while at the same time taking long positions in equities that are expected to appreciate and short positions in equities that are projected to decline. This fund has yearly returns of 0.86% over the most recent five years. Another fund liable of having investors pay more in charges than what they receive in return.

Invesco Global Mkt Neutral Fd Cl Y - 1.24% expense ratio, 0.95% management fee. This fund has yielded yearly returns of -3.81% in the course of the last five years. Too bad!

3 Top Ranked Mutual Funds

Now that you've seen the worst Zacks Ranked mutual funds, let's have a look at some of the highest ranked funds with the lowest fees.

MFS Global New Discovery R6 (GLNNX - Free Report) is a winner, with an expense ratio of just 1.16% and a five-year annualized return track record of 11.3%.

Principal Small Cap Growth I Institutional (PGRTX - Free Report) is a stand out fund. PGRTX 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. With five-year annualized performance of 12.04% and expense ratio of 1.02%, this diversified fund is an attractive buy with a strong history of performance.

JPMorgan Large Cap Growth R6 (JLGMX - Free Report) : Expense ratio: 0.43%. Management fee: 0.45%. JLGMX is a Large Cap Growth mutual fund, and these funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers. JLGMX has produced a 15.52% 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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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.

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