The Kiplinger 25: Our Favorite No-Load Mutual Funds

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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
Dean Mid Cap Value	DALCX	7.6%	15.5%	10.7%	0.8%	0.85%
DF Dent Midcap Growth	DFDMX	5.4	5.4	11.2	0.0	0.89
Dodge & Cox Stock	DODGX	9.2	17.1	13.0	1.3	0.51
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth	FBGRX	26.4	17.3	20.0	0.0	0.47
Mairs & Power Growth	MPGFX	10.7	14.3	13.4	0.8	0.62
Oberweis Small-Cap Opportunities	OBSOX	6.4	18.9	14.5	0.0	1.25
T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth	PRDGX	8.5	12.8	13.2	0.9	0.64
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value	PRSVX	5.9	11.6	9.8	0.8	0.77
PRIMECAP Odyssey Growth	POGRX	25.1	15.2	14.2	0.4	0.66
Vanguard Equity-Income	VEIPX	12.2	14.7	12.0	2.2	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	21.8%	5.0%	7.1%	0.3%	1.37%
Brown Capital Mgmt Intl Small Co	BCSVX	5.3	5.5	11.3	0.0	1.31
Fidelity International Growth	FIGFX	10.7	7.8	9.2	0.4	0.86
Janus Henderson Global Equity Income	HFQTX	17.5	11.8	7.4	7.1	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	-5.3%	3.6%	8.9%	0.0%	0.63%
T. Rowe Price Global Technology	PRGTX	30.8	8.9	17.2	0.0	0.92
Vanguard Wellington	VWELX	13.9	10.3	10.1	1.9	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	2.9%	-0.4%	2.0%	3.9%	0.55%
Dodge & Cox Income	DODIX	3.4	1.3	3.2	4.5	0.41
Fidelity Interm Muni Income	FLTMX	2.5	1.3	2.3	3.1	0.37
Fidelity Strategic Income	FADMX	6.5	3.9	N/A	4.4	0.65
T. Rowe Price Floating Rate	PRFRX	7.2	6.5	4.9	6.8	0.76
Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond	VEMBX	8.4	4.1	N/A	5.4	0.50
Vanguard High-Yield Corporate	VWEHX	7.2	4.7	5.4	5.7	0.22
Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade	VFSTX	5.1	2.1	2.6	4.1	0.20

Indexes

Indexes	One-year return	Five-year annualized return	10-year annualized return	Yield
S&P 500 INDEX	17.6%	16.5%	15.3%	1.2%
RUSSELL 2000 INDEX*	10.8	11.6	9.8	1.3
MSCI EAFE INDEX†	15.0	11.2	8.2	2.9
MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX	17.3	7.0	8.0	2.5
BLOOMBERG U.S. AGGREGATE BOND INDEX#	2.9	-0.4	1.8	4.4

As of September 30, 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.