If you're evaluating mutual funds for your investment portfolio or retirement account, this list highlights the best blend mutual funds to consider now, based on each fund outperforming the S&P 500 over the past one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods.
A blend fund is an equity mutual fund that contains a blend of both value stocks and growth stocks. A blend fund offers investors diversification between these two investment styles in one portfolio. Blend funds were created to provide investors with the benefits of value investing and growth investing. Value stocks and value funds invest in undervalued investments that are identified on the basis of fundamental characteristics. Growth stocks and growth funds invest in companies with significant growth potential in the form of profits and capital gains. Many investors choose blend funds for diversification.
Shaded cells in the table below indicate the five best-of-the-best funds based on 10-year performance. Of 433 blend mutual funds at least 10 years old, just seven of them, or 1%, won IBD Best Mutual Funds 2024 awards.
For more details, read about how the best mutual funds deliver benchmark-beating returns, and see the full 2024 list of IBD's Best Mutual Funds in every category, including bond funds, diversified stock funds, blend and index funds, and breakouts of large-cap, midcap and small-cap funds.
All returns are as of Dec. 31, 2023.
Best Blend Mutual Funds
| Fund | Symbol | 1-year total return | 3-year average annual return | 5-year average annual return | 10-year average annual return | Morningstar category | Annual report net expense ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark: S&P 500 | 26.29% | 10% | 15.69% | 12.03% | |||
| GMO Quality IV | GQEFX | 30.06 | 11.68 | 16.82 | 13.48 | US Fund Large Blend | 0.45% |
| Pear Tree Quality Ordinary | USBOX | 29.22 | 11.45 | 16.59 | 12.82 | US Fund Large Blend | 1.19 |
| Goldman Sachs Flexible Cap Institutional | GILLX | 28.36 | 10.58 | 16.71 | 12.47 | US Fund Large Blend | 0.59 |
| T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research | PRCOX | 29.8 | 10.49 | 16.44 | 12.39 | US Fund Large Blend | 0.45 |
| JPMorgan US Large Cap Core Plus I | JLPSX | 29.82 | 10.98 | 17.49 | 12.21 | US Fund Large Blend | 1.54 |
| JHancock Fundamental All Cap Core I | JFCIX | 34.78 | 10.37 | 18.56 | 12.19 | US Fund Large Blend | 0.83 |
| Putnam Core Equity Fund Y | PMYYX | 27.99 | 12.08 | 17.03 | 12.15 | US Fund Large Blend | 0.73 |
Sources: IBD, Morningstar Direct
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