Are You Invested In These 3 Mutual Fund Misfires? - October 03, 2019

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.

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.

Catalyst Small Cap Insider Buy I (CTVIX): 1.51% expense ratio and 1.25% management fee. CTVIX is categorized as an All Cap Value fund, and like the name suggests, invests across the cap spectrum in small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap companies. With a five year after-expenses return of -3.48%, you're mostly paying more in fees than returns.

Brookfield Global Listed Infrastructure Y (BGLYX): 1.1% expense ratio, 0.85% management fee. BGLYX 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 0.52% over the last five years. Another fund guilty of having investors pay more in fees than returns.

Third Avenue Real Estate Value Investor (TVRVX) - 1.4% expense ratio, 0.9% management fee. TVRVX is categorized as a Sector - Real Estate mutual fund, which typically invests in various real estate investment trusts (REIT) due to their taxation rules. TVRVX has generated annual returns of 0.57% over the last five years. Ouch!

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.

Eaton Vance Atlanta Capital Select Equity A (ESEAX) is a fund that has an expense ratio of 1.05%, and a management fee of 0.7%. ESEAX is a Large Cap Value mutual fund, which invests in stocks with a market cap of $10 billion of more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. With yearly returns of 11.02% over the last five years, this fund clearly wins.

City Natural Rochdale US Core Equity & Income Institutional (CNRUX) is a stand out fund. CNRUX 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 five-year annualized performance of 11.5% and expense ratio of 0.54%, this diversified fund is an attractive buy with a strong history of performance.

AQR Large Cap Defensive Style N (AUENX): Expense ratio: 0.65%. Management fee: 0.25%. AUENX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, and these mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a "buy and hold" mindset. AUENX has produced a 13.17% over the last five years.

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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