How To Find The Best Style Mutual Funds 3Q22

With an ever-growing list of similar-sounding mutual funds to choose from, finding the best is an increasingly difficult task. How can investors change the game to shift the odds in their favor?

Don’t Trust Mutual Fund Labels

There are at least 1,022 different All Cap Value mutual funds and at least 5,992 mutual funds across twelve styles. Do investors need 499+ choices on average per style? How different can the mutual funds be?

Those 1,022 All Cap Value mutual funds are very different. With anywhere from 17 to 1,724 holdings, many of these All Cap Value mutual funds have drastically different portfolios with differing risk profiles and performance outlooks.

The same is true for the mutual funds in any other style, as each offers a very different mix of good and bad stocks. Large Cap Value ranks first for stock selection. Small Cap Growth ranks last.

Avoiding Analysis Paralysis

I think the large number of style mutual funds hurts investors more than it helps. Manually conducting a deep analysis for every fund is simply not a realistic option, exposing investors to insufficient analysis and missing profitable opportunities. Analyzing mutual funds, with the proper diligence, is far more difficult than analyzing stocks because it means analyzing all the stocks within each mutual fund. As stated above, there can be as many as 1,724 stocks or more for one mutual fund.

Figure 1 shows the top-rated mutual fund for each style.

Figure 1: The Best Mutual Fund in Each Style

* Best mutual funds exclude funds with TNAs less than $100 million for inadequate liquidity

Amongst the mutual funds in Figure 1, DWS CROCI Equity Dividend Fund (KDHTX) ranks first overall, Legg Mason Franklin Global Dividend Fund (LDIFX) ranks second, and Royce Small Cap Special Equity Fund (RSEIX) ranks third. Virtus KAR Small Cap Value Fund (VQSRX) ranks last.

How to Avoid “The Danger Within”

Why do you need to know the holdings of mutual funds before you buy?

You need to be sure you do not buy a fund that might blow up. Buying a fund without analyzing its holdings is like buying a stock without analyzing its business and finances. No matter how cheap, if it holds bad stocks, the mutual fund’s performance will be bad.

PERFORMANCE OF FUND’S HOLDINGS – FEES = PERFORMANCE OF FUND

If Only Investors Could Find Funds Rated by Their Holdings

DWS CROCI Equity Dividend Fund (KDHTX) is not only the top-rated All Cap Value mutual fund but is also the overall top-ranked style mutual fund out of the 5,992 style mutual funds that I cover.

The worst mutual fund in Figure 1 is Virtus KAR Small Cap Value Fund (VQSRX), which still gets an Attractive rating.

Disclosure: David Trainer, Kyle Guske II, Matt Shuler, and Brian Pellegrini receive no compensation to write about any specific stock, style, or theme.