Best Mutual Funds List

MEPB Financial Mutual Fund Review provides a diverse selection from variety of investment and financial analysis from more than 6,000 mutual funds. We review rankings from Morningstar, Lipper, Zacks, TheStreet.com, U.S. News, and Standard & Poor’s. You can learn from our methodology from variety of our previous articles.

These best mutual funds are selected based on its performance, fee, management, investment style. You can find the fund list below.

Most Popular Mutual Funds Rankings

Short Term Bond

1. Thompson Bond Fund (THOPX) - Performance 1 Year: 4.38% Expense Ratio: 0.74%
2. Frost Total Return Bond Fund (FATRX) - Performance 1-Yr: 5.96% Expense Ratio: 0.74%
3. Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund (VFSTX) - Performance 1-Yr: 2.64% Expense Ratio: 0.20%
4. Metropolitan West Low Duration Bond Fund (MWLDX) - Performance 1-Yr: 2.03% Expense Ratio: 0.57%

Long Term Bond

1. PIMCO Long Duration Total Return Fund (PLRIX) - Performance 1-Yr: 12.77% Expense Ratio: 0.50%
2. Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund (VBLTX) - Performance 1-Yr: 12.34% Expense Ratio: 0.20%

Top Municipal Bond ETFs 2014

Find top municipal bond ETFs 2014. Muni bond funds provide tax free income for investors.

Best Muni Bond Funds

Municipal bond funds are investing mainly in tax free municipal bonds issued by various U.S. municipalities such as state of California, state of Texas, Los Angeles city, New York City, and more. The interests are exempt from federal income tax, it may also exempt from state and local tax. You can buy these bond funds from your brokerage such as Vanguard, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, ETrade, etc.

There are 2 types of municipal bond funds: investment grade muni bond funds, & high yield municipal bond funds. This article will look into top investment grade muni bond ETFs. These bond ETFs are traded like stocks or closed end funds.

These top diversified municipal funds are selected based on its YTD performance in 2014. Unlike mutual fund, these exchange traded funds don’t have a sales load or a transaction fee. You can find the fund review and other fund information below such as the yield, expense ratio, fund manager, top holdings, top sectors, etc.

Top municipal bond ETFs 2014 are:

1. Market Vectors CEF Municipal Income ETF
2. Market Vectors-Long Municipal Index ETF
3. PowerShares National AMT-Free Municipal Bond ETF
4. db X-trackers Municipal Infrastructure Revenue Bond Fund
5. Market Vectors-Intermediate Municipal Index ETF
6. SPDR Barclays Municipal Bond
7. iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF
8. PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond Strategy Fund

Best Industry Stocks Week 32, 2014: Home Furnishings & Fixtures

Find best performing industry stocks of week 32 of 2014. Top stock industries are home furnishings & fixtures, textile industrial, retail, etc.

Best Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. Major market indices have been down a lot this week. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 0.40%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 0.42%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 0.47%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 1.50%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 32, 2014 (August 4, 2014 – August 10, 2014) are:

1. Toy & Hobby Stores – 7.72%
2. Home Furnishings & Fixtures – 5.83%
3. Textile Industrial – 5.38%
4. Recreational Goods, Other – 5.25%
5. Sporting Goods – 4.37%

Target Date 2031-2035 Mutual Funds: Best Fund

Find best target date 2031-2035 mutual funds. This target date funds are popular among 401k or individual retirement account (IRA) investors.

Best Target Date Funds

Target date mutual funds are popular among any investors. Whether you have a 401k plan, individual retirement account (IRA), or regular investment account; you will find the target date mutual funds for your choice. These funds are suitable for passive investors that want to balance between stocks & bonds. These funds will adjust their assets based on your retirement year target.

Target Date 2031-2035 fund provide a diversified exposure to stocks, bonds, and cash for those investors who have a specific date in mind (in this case, the years 2031-2035) for retirement or another goal. The investment risks may include market risk, index tracking risk, investment style risk, etc. These target date mutual funds are also known as lifecycle mutual funds.

These top performer target date mutual funds are sorted based on its 1 year total return. You may find other information such as expense ratio fee, portfolio turnover rate, management or index approach, performance, etc. You can find the fund review and comparison below.

Best Target Date 2031-2035 Mutual Funds 2014 are:

1. T. Rowe Price Retirement 2035 Fund
2. American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund
3. AllianceBernstein 2035 Retirement Strategy Fund
4. Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund
5. TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index 2035 Fund

Top 6 High Yield Muni Bond Closed End Funds

Top 6 high yield muni bond closed end funds are Pioneer Municipal High Income Advantage, Nuveen Municipal High Income Opportunity Fund, etc.

High Yield Municipal Bond Funds

High yield municipal bond funds use its assets to purchase lower rated municipal bonds. These bond funds provide tax free high yield income for investors. These funds are suitable for high income investor or retiree who seeks tax free income. These investment funds usually provide the distribution yield regularly (i.e. monthly or quarterly).

These high yield municipal bond funds have higher risk than investment grade municipal bond funds. The investment risks include market risk, interest risk, issuer risk, etc. There are 3 ways to invest in high yield muni funds such as through ETF, CEF, and mutual fund. I will focus on high yield muni closed end fund in this article.

Investing in high yield muni CEF can provide more opportunities for investors to enhance their returns and/or income. You can buy and sell this high yield muni fund using your brokerage hence this fund is traded like stocks. You can invest as little as $5 per share for regular investment account or retirement account. For your 401k account, please check with your fund administrator about this fund.

From this best performing funds list, you may find each individual fund review. You can find the fund performance, expense ratio, and yield or dividend from the table below. The list is sorted based on its year to date performance in 2014 (up to August 2014).

Top 6 high yield muni bond closed end funds are:

1. Pioneer Municipal High Income Advantage
2. Nuveen Municipal High Income Opportunity Fund
3. Pioneer Municipal High Income
4. MFS High Yield Municipal Trust

Best Industry Stocks Week 31, 2014: Gaming Activities

Find best performing sector stocks of week 31 of 2014. Top stock industries are gaming activities, manufactured housing, home health care, internet service providers, etc.

Best Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. Major market indices have been down a lot this week. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of -2.66%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of -2.18%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of -2.74%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a negative return of -2.59%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 31, 2014 (July 28, 2014 – August 3, 2014) are:

1. Gaming Activities – 5.15%
2. Manufactured Housing – 3.99%
3. Home Health Care – 3.52%
4. Internet Service Providers – 3.42%
5. Office Supplies – 3.31%
6. Hospitals
7. Wholesale, Other
8. Semiconductor Equipment & Materials
9. Education & Training Services
10. Department Stores

Best Performing Large Value ETFs 2014

Best performing large value ETFs 2014 are First Trust Large Cap Value AlphaDEX, WisdomTree LargeCap Value, iShares MSCI USA Value Factor, etc.

Large Value Funds

The large value fund is part of US stock fund. This large mutual fund utilizes its assets to purchase common stocks of U.S. large companies which are considered undervalue. These undervalued companies are less expensive or growing more slowly than other large-cap companies. Other large cap funds are large blend, and large growth.

You can invest in large value ETFs if you like their liquidity and low cost. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) can be bought or sold through your online brokerage or stock broker. Some may offer these ETFs for free commission such as Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, etc.

The top performing list is sorted based on its past 1 year performance up to July 2014. Investors can find the review and other fund information such as expense ratio, fund manager, yield, turnover rate, sales load, top holdings, top sectors, etc.

Best performing large value ETFs 2014 are:

1. First Trust Large Cap Value AlphaDEX
2. WisdomTree LargeCap Value
3. Forensic Accounting ETF
4. iShares MSCI USA Value Factor
5. SPDR S&P 1500 Value Tilt ETF