Mutual funds are trusts that are managed professionally. These funds pool together savings from many investors. The funds are then invested by mutual fund managers in stocks, short-term money market instruments, bonds, and in precious metals Here we discuss the most popular, promising, and the best mutual funds for 2017:
- Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBINX): The sector is balanced, the expenses for this fund are 0.22%, and the initial minimum investment amount is $3,000. Regularly monitored funds have been lost to passive funds in many mutual fund types in this year. Thus, 2017 could be a year for the best-balanced funds like the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (MUTF: VBINX), which is quite popular and one of the best mutual funds for 2017. Portfolio managers and many financial media experts have mistakenly called the current starting of increasing rates for years. Balanced funds assign proportions of the assets to bonds and stocks, mostly in the ratio of 60-40. The nature of the bond portfolio is intermediate, while the stocks are scattered across all sectors and mostly comprise those of finance and tech.
- Hussman Strategic Total Return Fund (HSTRX): One of the best mutual funds for 2017, the sector for this is tactical allocation, the expenses for this fund are 0.79%, and its initial minimum investment amount is $1,000. If a person wants to hedge against inflation while minimizing market risk at the same time, then they need to have HSTRX in their mutual fund portfolio for 2017. HSTRX’s portfolio essentially comprises fixed-income securities, but the tactics that the fund employs are hedge fund-like where significant amounts are allocated to cash, stocks, or commodity-based securities. Based on the most newly reported data, HSTRX was sitting on just less than 40% bonds, 50% cash, and the rest of the 10% in equities.
- T. Rowe Price Floating Rate Fund (PRFRX): The sector is floating rate bonds, the expenses for this fund are 0.79%, and its initial minimum investment amount is $2,500. If rates increased as anticipated by the end of 2016 and all around 2017, the price of a bond would be reduced and most of the bond mutual funds will have negative returns. Due to this, funds like PRFRX could be a better substitute to old bond index funds. Increasing rates are liable to be a bad sign for most of the bonds and bond funds. Also known as floaters, floating rate notes, or bank loans, the rate of the floating-rate bonds is tied to a benchmark standard rate such as the prime rate or LIBOR, and adjusts on a constant, moving basis. This essentially demonstrates that floating-rate bonds, unlike conventional bonds, may appreciate in value on the periods of increasing interest.
- Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund (VFSTX): This is one of the popular and best mutual funds for 2017. The sector is corporate bonds, the expenses for this fund are 0.20%, and its initial minimum investment amount is $3,000. If the interest rates in the American economic atmosphere show an upward and steady improvement and the scenario stays relatively strong, you’d want to see the VFSTX in your portfolio. This is how the relationship between interest rates and bond prices works; rising rates reduce bond prices, and vice versa. Moreover, the bond funds which are toughest to keep are the long-term bonds. On the other hand, short-term bonds are less susceptible to changes in the interest rates and thus, can stabilize themselves in an environment where interest rates are rising.
- Vanguard Energy Fund (VGENX): The sector is energy, the expenses for this fund are 0.37%, and its initial minimum investment amount is $3,000. Energy could very well end up becoming one of last year’s best functioning sectors if nothing happens between now and the end of 2017. While traction has certainly become lesser and the juggernaut has slowed down, mutual funds such as the VGENX have a fascinating lead going further into 2017. While Iran looks like it’s playing ball, OPEC looks like it’s going to cap production. If this does happen, then the result will be high demand and much lesser supply of oil. This will eventually lead to oil prices going higher in 2017. Funds with more oil stocks — such as VGENX — will perform well in the upcoming year; VGENX is weighty in integrated and unmoved by oil and gas companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil Corporation, and it also offers a short exposure to storage, equipment, and refining plays.
- Fidelity Select Consumer Staples Fund (FDFAX): This is another best mutual funds for 2017. The sector is consumer staples, the expenses for this fund are 0.77%, and its initial minimum investment amount is $2,500. A good move for change would be to include stocks of consumer staples companies in their portfolio. The better way is the FDFAX. The last year has been particularly hard on stocks of consumer staples companies. As a result, the area is completely at a break-even with 45-50 days left to go for the end of 2016. So FDFAX is an opposite move in 2017. However, the bear market still looming in the distance and high valuations have resulted in the creation of more unreliability for investors. This is working well for such type of funds.