Mutual are one of the most popular ways to invest in the stock and bond markets, especially as part of employer sponsored 401 (k) plans and self-directed IRAs. Mutual fund allow you to purchase a diverse collection of assets in a single fund, often at low cost. Thus, you will be able to create a diversified portfolio quickly, easily and inexpensively.

But with literally thousands of funds available, how do you find the best for your wallet? Below Bankrate has highlighted some of the best mutual funds based on Morningstar research.

Best performing low-cost mutual funds

Bankrate selected its best funds based on the following criteria and only included funds that can be invested by regular investors (i.e. not those with a minimum investment of $ 5 million):

• Morningstar Five Star U.S. Equity Fund for Quality
• No sales charge (i.e. commission), to keep costs down
• 5-year performance better than that of the Standard & Poor’s 500, which has historically returned around 10% per year on average
• A expense rate less than 0.5%, to minimize ongoing costs
• Fund for which the manager has been in charge for more than five years to ensure stability
• Then we sorted the results by the best performers since the start of the year.

Below are some of the top mutual funds, with performance data as of June 28, 2021.

Growth and Income Fidelity (FGIKX)

This fund invests primarily in stocks that pay dividends and have the potential to rise in the future. It invests in national and foreign stocks as well as in growth and value stocks.

• Cumulative performance: 19.1 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 16.2 percent
• Spending rate: 0.50 percent

Vanguard Windsor II Investor Shares (VWNFX)

This fund invests in large publicly traded companies whose price is evaluated.

• Cumulative performance: 19.1 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 16.3 percent
• Spending rate: 0.34 percent

Fidelity Small Cap Index (FSSNX)

This fund invests in small, publicly traded companies that are part of the Russell 2000 Index.

• Cumulative performance: 18.1 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 17.6 percent
• Spending rate: 0.025 percent

Vanguard Small Cap Index (VSMAX)

This fund tracks the performance of the CRSP US Small Cap Index, in an index of small listed stocks.

• Cumulative performance: 17.5 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 16.8 percent
• Spending rate: 0.05%

American Century NT Mid Cap Value Fund (ACLMX)

This fund invests in mid-sized listed companies whose price is evaluated.

• Cumulative performance: 16.1 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 12.0 percent
• Spending rate: 0.01 percent

The best long-term mutual funds

Using the same criteria as before, Bankrate sifted through funds that had an excellent ten-year track record. Below are some of the top mutual funds, with performance data as of June 28, 2021.

Shelton NASDAQ-100 Direct Index (NASDX)

This fund attempts to replicate the performance of the NASDAQ-100 index.

• Cumulative performance: 11.8 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 27.5 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 10 years): 21.3 percent
• Spending rate: 0.50 percent

Fidelity NASDAQ Composite Index (FNCMX)

This index fund tracks the performance of the entire NASDAQ stock exchange, which includes more than 3,000 stocks.

• Cumulative performance: 12.8 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 26.3 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 10 years): 19.3 percent
• Spending rate: 0.29 percent

Voya Russell Large Cap Growth Index Fund (IRLNX)

This index fund tracks the performance of the Russell Top 200 Growth Index, which includes large stocks.

• Cumulative performance: 12.1 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 24.4 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 10 years): 18.7 percent
• Spending rate: 0.43 percent

Voya Russell Large Cap Index Portfolio (IIRLX)

The fund targets returns that match the total return of the Russell Top 200 Index.

• Cumulative performance: 13.7 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 19.1 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 10 years): 15.6%
• Spending rate: 0.36 percent

Hartford Core Equity R5 (HGITX)

This fund invests primarily in large, publicly traded companies that are growth oriented and priced.

• Cumulative performance: 12.4 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 5 years): 17.9 percent
• Historical performance (annual over 10 years): 15.6%
• Spending rate: 0.48 percent

How to choose the best mutual funds for your portfolio

Choosing the best mutual fund for you depends a lot on your needs, especially your tolerance for risk and your time horizon. But it also depends on what you already have in your wallet. Here are some key questions to consider in finding the best mutual fund for you:

• When do you plan to access the money? The longer your time horizon, the more risk you can take, which means equity funds might be the most suitable investment. If you need cash in a year or two, you may want to reduce your risk with bond or money market funds.
• Can you withstand temporary losses and hold on? If you can stick to your long-term investment plan, equity funds will likely be a better investment for you.
• Do you have a specific gap in your portfolio? You might need more balance in your wallet. Are you heavily invested in bond funds and need stocks to balance your returns, or vice versa? Do you only invest in US-based investments and not in foreign stocks?

It is important to know your portfolio and your financial situation so that you can assess which mutual fund might be right for you. But even when you find a type of fund that you like, you’ll also want to assess which bottoms are best based on a few dimensions.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the long-term performance history of the fund? A better long-term record (over five or 10 years) is better than a worse one. The fund’s long-term balance sheet is your best indicator of its future performance.
• Has the fund performed well only in the past two years? A fund that has only recently outperformed may eventually return to its long-term all-time high. Investors often look for high performance, then end up buying high and almost inevitably selling low.
• What does the fund charge for investing? Is there a sales charge? It’s easy to avoid a sales charge, but virtually all mutual funds impose an expense ratio to cover the ongoing costs of the fund and generate a profit.

Some funds (like index funds) literally invest in the same stocks or bonds as other similar funds. So you can find the same “product” for a lower expense ratio by looking around. For example, any fund based on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index will have roughly the same holdings as another, so the true basis for comparison is the fund’s expenses.

Sometimes you may need to compare two funds, one with higher long term performance and higher expense ratio and the other with lower performance and lower fees. So consider if paying the higher fee is worth the extra return. A quick way to check: Subtract the fund’s expense ratio from its long-term performance to see which gives you the best after-expense returns.

Some investors prefer exchange-traded funds over mutual funds – here is what to consider.

Types of mutual funds

Mutual funds come in many types and are categorized by the type of investment they own: equity funds, bond funds, money market funds, balanced funds, and target date funds.

Mutual fund

Equity mutual funds hold exclusively stocks, which gives them the potential for greater volatility – both higher overall returns and lower overall returns than other types of mutual funds. Among the equity mutual funds are some of the more popular index funds, where the fund is based on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index of the best Based in the United States companies. From there, they can be broken down into funds focused on growth stocks, value stocks, or a combination of both.

Bond mutual funds

Bond mutual funds exclusively own bonds, which generally makes them less volatile than equity funds. But they are also likely to generate lower returns over time than their stock market counterparts.

Money market mutual funds

These mutual funds hold safe securities such as cash and very short-term debt securities, which generally makes them safer than equity or bond-based mutual funds, but also low. yield. That said, unlike FDIC-backed money market accounts in a bank, money market mutual funds can lose capital, which means it is possible, but unlikely, that you will not get back all of your investment.

Balanced mutual funds

These mutual funds can invest in stocks, bonds and money market instruments and can generally offer lower volatility in exchange for lower overall returns. How much is allocated to each type of asset class depends on the fund’s investment manager and their performance expectations.

Mutual funds at maturity

Target date mutual funds are popular in 401 (k) accounts, and they typically invest in stocks, bonds, and money market instruments. Investors choose when they want to access their money (for example, in retirement), then the target date fund selects the appropriate investments for that period, reducing risk as the investor approaches the target date. This usually means that the fund shifts its investments over time from high risk (but high yield) stocks to low risk bonds.

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Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. In addition, investors are advised that past performance of investment products is not a guarantee of future price appreciation.