3 Mutual Fund Misfires To Avoid - October 11, 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.

Templeton Foreign R6 (FTFGX): 0.67% expense ratio and 0.69% management fee. FTFGX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. With a five year after-costs return of -0.74%, you're for the most part paying more in charges than returns.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Vance Multi Sector Income C (EVBCX): 1.76% expense ratio, 0.55% management fee. EVBCX is an Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate fund, which targets bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years, and are a middle of the curve option for investors. This fund has an annual returns of 0.92% over the last five years. Another fund guilty of having investors pay more in fees than returns.

Hartford Emerging Market Local Debt Y (HLDYX): This fund has an expense ratio of 0.9% and management fee of 0.85%. HLDYX is an International Bond - Emerging mutual fund, which focus on fixed income securities from emerging nations around the globe. With an annual average return of -0.25% 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.

AB Small Cap Growth Adviser (QUAYX): 0.89% expense ratio and 0.75% management fee. QUAYX is a Small Cap Blend mutual fund, allowing investors a way to diversify their funds among various types of small-cap stocks. With an annual return of 12.31% over the last five years, this fund is a winner.

USAA Science & Technology Fund (USSCX) has an expense ratio of 1.03% and management fee of 0.73%. USSCX is a Sector - Tech mutual fund, allowing investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Thanks to yearly returns of 15.39% over the last five years, USSCX is an effectively diversified fund with a long reputation of solidly positive performance.

MFS Mass Investors Growth Stock A (MIGFX) is an attractive fund with a five-year annualized return of 11.48% and an expense ratio of just 0.71%. MIGFX 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.

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.

If you have concerns or any doubts about your investment advisor, read our just-released report:

4 Warning Signs That Your Advisor Might be Sabotaging Your Financial Future