20 Largest Mutual Funds

Most investors may have invested in mutual funds through their brokerage or retirement account (IRA or 401k plan). More than 50% of American households own a mutual fund. The stock market or bond market aren’t going away anytime soon – but it’s certainly one that investors can and should be a lot smarter about if they pick to keep mutual funds in their portfolios.

As a prospective buyer, you need to ask whether you should invest in the biggest and most popular mutual funds. Are these popular mutual funds really worth your money? The answer isn’t as easy to find as you might think. You can find many companies which provide ratings on mutual funds including Morningstar, US News, Lipper, Forbes, Money, Kiplinger, etc.

Popular Mutual Funds for Investment

The top 20 largest mutual funds are:

1. Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) - $343 billion
2. PIMCO Total Return Fund (PTTAX) - $223 billion
3. Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX) - $176 billion
4. American Funds Growth Fund of America Fund (AGTHX) - $139 billion
5. Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX) - $129 billion
6. American Funds Europacific Growth Fund (AEPGX) - $125 billion
7. Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX) - $119 billion
8. Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) - $106 billion
9. Franklin Income Fund (FKINX) - $94 billion
10. American Funds Capital Income Builder Fund (CAIBX) - $94 billion

Principal Mutual Funds for Retirement Account

Find top Principal mutual funds for your retirement account. The mutual funds include Principal Global Real Estate Securities Fund, Principal LifeTime 2010 Fund, etc.

Principal Funds

Principal Financial Group (PFG) is a global financial services company.  It is offering a wide range of financial services including retirement solutions, insurance, investment, planning center, financial, and banking products. It offers mutual funds, annuities, saving accounts, and certificates of deposit (CDs) in its investment business. The mutual funds are offered from its Principal Funds arm.

Should you invest in your brokerage, retirement, or 401(k) account? Find my fund review below. Select the best funds for your investing account or long term account. I provide various aspects of review including fund performance, expense fee, sales load, etc.

The investment ad by Principal is as follows:

We won the awards. 

You got the results. 

Lipper Fund Awards 2013 United States 

Top Asset Class 

Best Mixed-Asset Fund Manager over the 3-year period 

Among 40 Firms in the Large Company Category 

Top Individual Funds 

Principal Global Real Estate Securities Fund – Class I (POSIX)
Best Global Real Estate Fund over the 5-year period

Top Stocks Week 35, 2014: Research Services & Oil Exploration

Find top industry stocks of week 35 of 2014. Top stock industries are oil & gas drilling & exploration, research services, etc.

Best Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 0.80%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 0.92%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 0.63%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 1.24%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 35, 2014 (August 25, 2014 – August 31, 2014) are:

1. Photographic Equipment & Supplies - 23.50%
2. Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration - 7.90%
3. Research Services - 7.36%
4. Healthcare Information Services - 4.83%
5. Foreign Regional Banks - 4.80%
6. Jewelry Stores - 4.16%
7. Biotechnology - 3.87%
8. Diversified Computer Systems - 3.59%
9. Meat Products - 3.47%
10. Water Utilities - 3.18%
11. Tobacco Products, Other - 3.01%
12. Toy & Hobby Stores - 3.00%

Top Investment Grade Bond Closed End Funds

Investment grade bond closed end funds invest mainly in high quality fixed income. These funds may invest in U.S. bonds and foreign bonds depending on the fund’s objective.

Popular Fixed Income Funds

Closed end funds are traded like stocks and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). These investment grade bond funds invest in corporate as well as government debts. Some may provide high yield income for investors.

The top performing list is sorted based on its year to date performance in 2014. You can find the fund review, performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, fund’s NAV, management, leverage, fund’s sponsor, premium/discount info, etc.

Top investment grade bond closed end funds are:

1. PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity (PTY) – 14.34%
2. Guggenheim Credit Allocation Fund (GGM) – 12.51%
3. PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy (PCN) – 12.41%
4. Invesco Bond Fund (VBF)
5. JH Investors Trust (JHI)
6. MS Income Securities (ICB)
7. Cutwater Select Income Fund (CSI)
8. Western Asset IG Defined Opp (IGI)
9. Western Asset Global Corp Defined Opp (GDO)
10. BlackRock Credit Allocation Income (BTZ)

Best Real Estate ETFs 2014

Real estate ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are investing mainly in real estate companies including REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). These stock ETFs may provide high yield of income for investors.

Best REIT Exchange Traded Funds

Real estate funds use their assets to purchase real estate investment trusts (REITs), which invest in and own commercial real estate properties. Generally, a REIT offers a high yield because it's required to distribute a large amount of its taxable income to its shareholders in the form of a dividend.

These top real estate ETFs in 2014 are sorted based on its year to date performance in 2014. You can find the fund details and review below. Some of these ETFs can be bought for free from variety of brokerages such as Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and Vanguard.

Best real estate ETFs 2014 are:

1. iShares Residential Real Estate Capped ETF (REZ) – 24.27%
2. iShares Cohen & Steers REIT (ICF) – 22.24%
3. Schwab US REIT ETF (SCHH) – 21.1%
4. SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (RWR) – 20.93%
5. Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) - 20.77%
6. Wilshire US REIT ETF (WREI)
7. PowerShares Active US Real Estate ETF (PSR)
8. iShares Real Estate 50 (FTY)
9. First Trust S&P REIT ETF (FRI)
10. iShares US Real Estate ETF (IYR)

Top Stocks Week 34, 2014: Department Stores

Find top industry stocks of week 34 of 2014. Top stock industries are department stores, home improvement stores.

Best Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 1.75%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 1.65%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 2.10%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 1.65%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 34, 2014 (August 18, 2014 – August 24, 2014) are:

1. Toy & Hobby Stores – 17.11%
2. Internet Service Providers – 11.53%
3. Department Stores – 8.31%
4. Home Improvement Stores – 7.61%
5. Electronics Stores
6. Property Management
7. Office Supplies

Top Performing Large Growth Mutual Funds 2014

Large growth mutual funds invest mainly in large U.S. companies with high growth potentials. These funds provide little yield or income.

Best Performing Funds

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. If you are interested in large growth ETFs, you can check my previous article. The list is sorted based on its year to date return up to August 25, 2014.

Top performing large growth mutual funds 2014 are:

1. Sterling Capital Special Opportunities Equity Fund (BOPAX)
2. Biondo Focus Fund (BFONX)
3. ClearBridge Aggressive Growth Fund (SHRAX)
4. USAA NASDAQ-100 Index Fund (USNQX)
5. Rydex Series Trust Nasdaq-100 Strategy Fund (RYOCX)
6. Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund (VPMCX)
7. Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Fund (VPCCX)
8. ProFunds NASDAQ-100 Fund (OTPIX)
9. Vanguard Capital Opportunity Fund (VHCAX)
10. PNC Large Cap Growth Fund (PEWAX)
11. Fidelity Independence Fund (FDFFX)
12. Manning & Napier Tax Managed Series Fund (EXTAX)