The Kiplinger 25: Our Favorite No-Load Mutual Funds

Closeup of bow on expedition yacht navigating through rough waters.

The Kiplinger 25 is a list of our favorite no-load mutual funds. We favor funds run by seasoned managers who take a long view and have proved themselves able to weather many a storm. And we prefer low to below-average fees.

In the tables below, you can see for each of the 25 funds, expense ratios and one-year, and annualized five- and ten-year total returns (the fund's rate of return over a given period of time, including interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions).

The Kiplinger 25 Funds

U.S. stock funds

Fund name	Symbol	One-year return	Five-year annualized return	10-year annualized return	Yield	Expense ratio
DF Dent Midcap Growth	DFDMX	9.3%	5.2%	9.9%	0.0%	0.89%
Dodge & Cox Stock	DODGX	9.6	17.0	10.9	1.4	0.51
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth	FBGRX	12.1	18.4	16.9	0.2	0.47
Heartland Mid Cap Value	HRMDX	-0.8	13.3	8.3	0.8	1.10
Mairs & Power Growth	MPGFX	4.4	13.1	10.8	0.9	0.62
Oberweis Small-Cap Opportunities	OBSOX	-4.7	18.6	12.0	0.0	1.25
T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth	PRDGX	9.4	13.2	11.5	1.0	0.64
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value	PRSVX	3.0	10.9	7.7	0.9	0.77
PRIMECAP Odyssey Growth	POGRX	7.7	13.1	11.1	0.4	0.66
Vanguard Equity-Income	VEIPX	10.1	13.5	10.0	2.7	0.27

Foreign funds

Fund name	Symbol	One-year return	Five-year annualized return	10-year annualized return	Yield	Expense ratio
Baron Emerging Markets	BEXFX	15.5%	5.9%	3.2%	0.5%	1.37%
Brown Capital Mgmt Intl Small Co	BCSVX	15.4	8.2	—	0.0	1.31
Fidelity International Growth	FIGFX	7.4	9.0	7.3	0.4	0.86
Janus Henderson Global Equity Income	HFQTX	14.9	11.5	5.6	7.3	0.95

Specialized funds

Fund name	Symbol	One-year return	Five-year annualized return	10-year annualized return	Yield	Expense ratio
Fidelity Select Health Care	FSPHX	-3.1%	3.0%	6.0%	0.0%	0.63%
T. Rowe Price Global Technology	PRGTX	12.7	9.0	14.0	0.0	0.92
Vanguard Wellington	VWELX	11.2	9.7	8.4	2.1	0.25

Bond funds

Fund name	Symbol	One-year return	Five-year annualized return	10-year annualized return	Yield	Expense ratio
Baird Aggregate Bond	BAGSX	5.4%	-0.7%	1.6%	3.7%	0.55%
Dodge & Cox Income	DODIX	5.7	1.0	2.6	4.2	0.41
Fidelity Interm Muni Income	FLTMX				2.7	0.37
Fidelity Strategic Income	FADMX			—	4.1	0.65
T. Rowe Price Floating Rate	PRFRX	7.1	6.7	4.5	7.0	0.77
Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond	VEMBX	8.3	4.3	—	6.7	0.50
Vanguard High-Yield Corporate	VWEHX	8.8	4.8	4.5	6.2	0.22
Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade	VFSTX	7.0	2.0	2.3	4.3	0.20

Indexes

Indexes		One-year return	Five-year annualized return	10-year annualized return	Yield
S&P 500 INDEX		13.5%	15.9%	12.9%	1.3%
RUSSELL 2000 INDEX*		1.2	9.6	6.6	1.6
MSCI EAFE INDEX†		13.3	11.4	6.0	3.1
MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX		13.0	7.1	3.9	2.7
BLOOMBERG U.S. AGGREGATE BOND INDEX#		5.5	-0.9	1.5	4.7

As of May 31, 2025. *Small-company U.S. stocks. †Foreign stocks. #High-grade U.S. bonds. N/A = Fund not in existence for the entire period.

SOURCES: Fund companies, FTSE Russell, Morningstar Inc., MSCI, S&P Dow Jones Indices. Yields listed for bond funds are SEC yields, which are net of fees; stock fund yields are the yield for the past 12 months.