3 Mutual Fund Misfires To Avoid - February 12, 2020

If your advisor has you invested in any of these "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market" with high fees and low returns, you need to rethink your 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.

First, let's break down some of the funds currently part of our "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market." If you happen to have put your money into any of these misfires, we'll help assess some of our best Zacks Ranked mutual funds.

3 Mutual Fund Misfires

Now, let's take a look at three market misfires.

CGM Focus Fund (CGMFX): Expense ratio: 1.28%. Management fee: 0.98%. After expenses, the 5 year return is -3.11%, meaning your fees are far higher than the fund's returns.

Columbia Disciplined Small Core T (SSCEX): 1.35% expense ratio, 0.85%. SSCEX is a Small Cap Value mutual fund, investing in small companies with stock market valuation less than $2 billion. This fund has yearly returns of 1.34% over the most recent five years. Another fund liable of having investors pay more in charges than what they receive in return.

AIG (NYSE:AIG) US Government Securities A (SGTAX): Expense ratio: 0.99%. Management fee: 0.65%. SGTAX is a Government Bond - Long fund. These mutual funds hold securities issued by the U.S. federal government, focus on the long end of the curve, and are seen as low-risk investments. With annual returns of just -0.25%, it's no surprise this fund has received Zacks' "Strong Sell" ranking.

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.

Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX) is a winner, with an expense ratio of just 0.75% and a five-year annualized return track record of 14.16%.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Small Cap Growth Fund R2 (JSGZX): Expense ratio: 1.49%. Management fee: 0.65%. JSGZX is a Small Cap Growth mutual fund and tends to feature small companies in up-and-coming industries and markets. JSGZX has managed to produce a robust 13.92% over the last five years.

Janus Henderson Global Technology S (JATSX) has an expense ratio of 1.22% and management fee of 0.64%. JATSX is a Sector - Tech mutual fund, allowing investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. With yearly returns of 19.9% over the last five years, this fund is well-diversified with a long reputation of salutary performance.

Bottom Line

Along these lines, there you have it - if your financial guide has you put your money into any of our "Mutual Fund Misfires of the Market," there is a strong likelihood that they are either dormant at the worst possible time, inept, or (in all probability) filling their pockets with high fee commissions at the cost of your financial objectives.

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