The 25 Best No-Load Mutual Funds You Can Buy

The best no-load mutual funds

Here are our picks for the best 25 no-load mutual funds: what makes them tick, and what kind of returns they've delivered. Data is as of February 28, unless otherwise noted. Five- and 10-year returns are annualized. Yields on equity funds represent the trailing 12-month yield. Yields on balanced and bond funds are SEC yields, which reflect the interest earned after deducting fund expenses for the most recent 30-day period.

Dodge & Cox Stock

• Symbol: DODGX
• 1-year return: 10.3%
• 5-year return: 12.2%
• 10-year return: 14.1%
• Yield: 1.3%
• Expense ratio: 0.51%

Portfolio: Bargain-priced stocks of midsize to large U.S. companies.

Process: Seven contrarian managers sift through unloved stocks to find companies with good long-term prospects. When they buy, they hold.

Several holdings, including Alphabet (GOOGL), Charles Schwab (SCHW) and FedEx (FDX), have been in the fund for more than a decade.

Performance: High-priced tech stocks aren't this fund's thing, and that has hurt its relative performance in recent years. But DODGX stands out among other value-oriented funds over long hauls.

It has, however, lagged in recent months, in part because of a decline in certain holdings, including Charter Communications (CHTR) and Fiserv (FI).

Takeaway: The main reason to own DODGX is its value-oriented focus. It offers a good counterbalance to the growth-stock-heavy S&P 500.

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth

• Symbol: FBGRX
• 1-year return: 20.5%
• 5-year return: 13.2%
• 10-year return: 20.5%
• Yield: 0.0%
• Expense ratio: 0.61%

Portfolio: Mega-size firms with robust sales and earnings growth.

Process: Manager Sonu Kalra favors companies with a competitive advantage and the ability to maintain or raise prices in an economic downturn. In particular, he looks for a catalyst, such as a new product cycle, a management change or a turnaround situation, that could add to a stock's true value.

Technology (49% of assets), communications services (18%) and consumer discretionary (17%) are the fund's biggest sectors.

Performance: The fund's sector tilts have helped in recent years. Its 10-year annualized return of 20.5% means that FBGRX investors over that period have earned a roughly sevenfold increase on their initial investment.

Takeaway: This is a solid large-company growth fund.

Primecap Odyssey Growth

• Symbol: POGRX
• 1-year return: 32.6%
• 5-year return: 12.0%
• 10-year return: 15.7%
• Yield: 0.5%
• Expense ratio: 0.66%

Portfolio: Fast-growing large and midsize companies.

Process: Five managers and a team of analysts run their own portion of the fund's assets independent of each other, but each aims to find companies with a catalyst for growth, and they like to buy when a stock trades at a discount to what they think the business is worth.

They're patient, too, though some say Primecap managers can hang on too long to a flagging stock. That said, sometimes these stragglers turn around. Intel (INTC), for instance, has lagged since it was added to the fund in late 2004. But the stock, a top holding, has climbed 92% over the past 12 months.

Performance: Not owning the Magnificent 7 stocks hurt the fund's performance in 2023 and 2024. But over the past 12 months, the fund beat the S&P 500 by nearly 16 percentage points with a 32.6% return.

Takeaway: The portfolio bears little resemblance to the S&P 500, a plus for investors who want to diversify their core portfolio. What's more, over the past decade, Odyssey Growth has beaten the S&P 500.

T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth

• Symbol: PRDGX
• 1-year return: 14.3%
• 5-year return: 12.0%
• 10-year return: 13.7%
• Yield: 0.9%
• Expense ratio: 0.64%

Portfolio: Large to midsize companies that show a willingness to raise dividends robustly year after year.

Process: Lead manager Tom Huber builds a "durable" portfolio, he says, of dividend stocks in established companies with solid sales and earnings growth and hearty free cash flow (money left over after operating expenses and spending to maintain or upgrade property and equipment), among other things.

Sizable dividend hikes matter more than yield. Over the long haul, Huber says, the fund's dividend-growth rate beats that of the S&P 500 by two to 3.5 percentage points.

Performance: The fund gained 14.3% over the past 12 months, a bit behind the S&P 500. But that's better than the fund fared in 2023 and 2024 relative to the index, when a handful of tech stocks fueled returns.

Those stocks are "the exact opposite of what a traditional dividend-growth investor looks for," says Huber.

Takeaway: The portfolio shines in tough markets. In 2022, when the S&P 500 dropped 18.0%, Dividend Growth held up better, with a 10.2% loss. In short, it's a good option for investors who want stock market exposure with less volatility.

Vanguard Equity Income

• Symbol: VEIPX
• 1-year return: 18.4%
• 5-year return: 13.4%
• 10-year return: 12.6%
• Yield: 2.1%
• Expense ratio: 0.26%

Portfolio: Shares in established U.S. companies that pay big dividends. The fund is income-focused and yields 2.1%.

Process: Matthew Hand of Wellington Management runs two-thirds of the fund's assets. He focuses on companies with strong business models run by managers who are committed to paying a dividend, and he buys them at attractive valuations.

Sharon Hill, a member of Vanguard's Quantitative Equity Group, manages the rest of the assets. She and her team isolate the traits of good dividend stocks, such as improving profit margins, and build a computer model to hunt them down. Broadcom (AVGO), Merck (MRK) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) are among the fund's top holdings.

Performance: Hand and Hill have run the fund together since late 2021 and have delivered above-average returns with below-average volatility. Over the past 12 months, the fund outpaced the S&P 500, with a 19.9% return.

Takeaway: "The fund is designed to be a more defensive equity allocation in an investor portfolio," says Matthew Jiannino, a Vanguard client portfolio manager.

Dean Mid Cap Value

• Symbol: DALCX
• 1-year return: 19.3%
• 5-year return: 13.4%
• 10-year return: 12.0%
• Yield: 0.9%
• Expense ratio: 0.85%

Portfolio: Roughly 50 value-priced stocks in midsize companies.

Process: Manager Douglas Leach employs a "classic" value investment strategy, he says, that targets high-quality companies trading at low prices for a temporary reason. "We typically try to find the best companies in out-of-favor sectors rather than a weak competitor in a sector that's in favor," says Leach.

Performance: Dean Mid Cap Value joined the Kip 25 roughly six months ago. Since then, the fund has gained 13.2%, ahead of the Russell Mid Cap index. Over the long haul, the fund boasts above-average returns and below-average volatility.

Takeaway: This is a true mid-size company fund with a value focus, and it can boost diversification in U.S. stock portfolios.

Marsico Midcap Growth Focus

• Symbol: MXXIX
• 1-year return: 33.5%
• 5-year return: 10.9%
• 10-year return: 16.9%
• Yield: 0.0%
• Expense ratio: 1.31%

Portfolio: Between 25 and 40 stocks in growing companies. The fund has a mid-cap focus, but it holds some large- and small-company stocks, too.

Process: Tom Marsico and his sons, Peter and James, identify consumer-oriented growth trends and the companies that will benefit from them. They favor businesses with strong pricing power and brand franchises, as well as healthy margins and free cash flow generation, says Jimmy Marsico.

Young people, for instance, are delaying home buying and spending money instead on travel, says Jimmy. That's why the fund owns stakes in Heico (HEI) and Rolls-Royce Holdings (RYCEY), two aerospace-related firms, and United Airlines Holdings (UAL).

YouTube has turned a legion of young people on to golf, he adds. "It's created a flywheel effect," says Jimmy, building momentum over time that's expanding the sport in a big way, which is why the fund owns shares in Acushnet (GOLF), a maker of golf products.

Performance: The younger Marsicos joined their father as managers in September 2022. Since then, Marsico Midcap Growth Focus has gained 27.3%, outdoing the Russell Midcap Growth Index.

Takeaway: The younger Marsicos haven't been managers for very long, but they bring a relatively youthful set of sensibilities to the fund and have been analysts at the firm for 18 years. Meanwhile, Tom Marsico has decades of experience. And the team is backed by two senior analysts and two traders, each with more than 15 years of experience.

Oberweis Small-Cap Opportunities

• Symbol: OBSOX
• 1-year return: 27.1%
• 5-year return: 13.3%
• 10-year return: 17.4%
• Yield: 0.0%
• Expense ratio: 1.25%

Portfolio: Profitable small companies with significant long-term growth potential.

Process: Lead manager Ken Farsalas uses earnings announcements as a starting block, looking for firms that significantly beat profit expectations. If the outperformance is due to a structural change, a new product or an acquisition, for example, he's interested.

Performance: "To say 2025 was wild might be the understatement of the year," Farsalas said in a recent report. It didn't cause that much trouble for Small-Cap Opportunities, though.

While riskier, unprofitable fare did best among small-cap stocks, this fund, which is chock full of profitable firms, returned 14.3% in 2025, beating the Russell 2000 and its peers (small-cap growth funds).

Takeaway: Farsalas says he sees "a generational opportunity" in small-cap companies. "Our universe is about as loved as a below-zero winter day in Chicago," he adds, and prices remain "shockingly cheap."

T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value

• Symbol: PRSVX
• 1-year return: 17.8%
• 5-year return: 6.4%
• 10-year return: 11.1%
• Yield: 0.7%
• Expense ratio: 0.77%

Portfolio: Under-the-radar, unloved small-company stocks.

Process: Manager David Wagner favors companies with strong balance sheets and good revenue growth, and he likes to buy when stocks are cheap.

In late 2025, he picked up shares in Dyne Therapeutics (DYN), a clinical-stage biotech company focused on neuromuscular diseases, and CareTrust REIT (CTRE), a real estate investment trust that owns health-related properties.

Performance: The fund has been less volatile than the typical small-cap value fund over the past decade. As for performance, Small-Cap Value outpaced its peers in 2025, but lagged its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Value Index.

Takeaway: Small-cap value shares have recently outpaced the S&P 500.

Vanguard Strategic Equity

• Symbol: VSEQX
• 1-year return: 22.7%
• 5-year return: 12.4%
• 10-year return: 13.3%
• Yield: 1.1%
• Expense ratio: 0.17%

Portfolio: Two systematic models are combined to pick and optimize holdings in a portfolio of some 500 high-quality small- and midsize-company stocks trading at discount prices.

Process: Starting with a universe of 2,200 stocks, a computer algorithm homes in on the best traits of good stocks, including earnings growth, stock valuation and momentum, among others, while a machine-learning artificial-intelligence model takes into account how economic factors — inflation, interest rate shifts and economic growth, among others — might impact stock prices.

The models are combined to help the managers pinpoint risks as well as the best times to buy and sell. "It all happens simultaneously," says lead manager Cesar Orosco.

For example, the traditional computer model highlighted shares in bank stocks as attractively cheap in 2023, after some banks failed. But the AI model indicated these stocks were cheap for a reason. As a result, the fund tamped down its overall position in that sector, says Orosco, which was a good move.

Performance: Orosco has been the sole manager of the fund since 2021. The fund's five-year annualized return beats 93% of its peers.

Takeaway: The system isn't always right, says Orosco, but the two models complement each other well, and "we end up with good performance in the long run that's smoother."

Baron Emerging Markets

• Symbol: BEXFX
• 1-year return: 42.2%
• 5-year return: 2.4%
• 10-year return: 8.6%
• Yield: 1.6%
• Expense ratio: 1.37%

Portfolio: Fast-growing companies based in developing nations. Stocks in China, India, Taiwan and South Korea dominate the fund's assets.

Process: Michael Kass, the fund's manager for 25 years, focuses on broad growth themes, such as deglobalization (India) and the rise of AI (Taiwan and South Korea) to find firms with sustainable competitive advantages and potential long-term profit growth.

Process: Michael Kass, the fund's manager for 25 years, focuses on broad growth themes, such as deglobalization (India) and the rise of AI (Taiwan and South Korea) to find firms with sustainable competitive advantages and potential long-term profit growth.

Takeaway: Emerging markets are entering a "sustainable bull market," says Kass. A weakening dollar will eventually draw investors, and the shift to deglobalize is "more of an opportunity for emerging markets than a risk."

Brown Capital Management International Small Company

• Symbol: BCSVX
• 1-year return: -13.1%
• 5-year return: -2.9%
• 10-year return: 8.9%
• Yield: 0.0%
• Expense ratio: 1.31%

Portfolio: Just under 40 small companies in developed foreign countries.

Process: Exceptional small growth companies — namely firms that make or deliver must-have products or services and boast climbing revenues and profits — are this fund's quarry.

"These are rare businesses that are hard to find and hard for competitors to replicate," says comanager Ed Zane.

Performance: The fund had a tough 2025, declining 2.3%, compared with a 29.7% gain in its benchmark, the MSCI World ex-US Small Cap Growth Index.

Stocks in economically sensitive sectors, especially materials and industrials, fueled the rally, and the fund generally doesn't invest in those areas. Also, AI-disruption fears punished software and real estate portal shares, which combined make up one-third of the portfolio.

Company-specific issues hampered the fund, too. Tariffs upset MIPS (safety helmets) and Lectra (software); corporate governance and management issues hurt Evotec (pharmaceuticals) and WiseTech Global (software).

The managers reanalyzed each holding "to make sure the fundamentals were sound," says comanager Zoey Zuo, "and we came away feeling comfortable in our holdings."

Takeaway: Until mid-2025, the fund had been performing well. What changed were the valuations, not the underlying long-term fundamentals of the businesses it owns, says Zane.

Fidelity International Growth

• Symbol: FIGFX
• 1-year return: 20.3%
• 5-year return: 8.0%
• 10-year return: 10.5%
• Yield: 0.6%
• Expense ratio: 0.84%

Portfolio: More than 60 foreign stocks, each with a niche in their industry and good growth prospects.

Process: As a growth manager, Jed Weiss favors companies with high barriers to entry and multiyear growth prospects, but he likes to buy at attractive valuations relative to his earnings forecasts.

Performance: Over the past decade, International Growth outpaced the MSCI EAFE Index.

The fund has struggled in recent months relative to the bogey for various reasons. It doesn't own some high-flying stocks that have performed well recently, including AstraZeneca (AZN) and Novartis (NVS). The fund is also lighter on financial stocks than the EAFE, and those stocks have done particularly well.

That said, some of his non-benchmark holdings have performed well, including chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), which has climbed 109% over the past 12 months.

Takeaway: Context is everything: Value-priced stocks have outpaced their growth counterparts in the EAFE by a wide margin over the past 12 months. Keep that in mind as you review this standout foreign-growth-stock fund's performance.

Janus Henderson Global Equity Income

• Symbol: HFQTX
• 1-year return: 37.3%
• 5-year return: 12.9%
• 10-year return: 9.6%
• Yield: 6.0%
• Expense ratio: 0.94%

Portfolio: High-quality dividend stocks in developed countries the world over.

Process: Companies with growing levels of free cash flow, underappreciated earnings growth and dividend sustainability hit the mark at this fund. British American Tobacco (BTI), Imperial Brands (IMBBY) and TotalEnergies (TTE) are top holdings.

To optimize year-round income, the managers buy a stock before it pays a dividend and sell it a few months later to buy shares in a similar firm before it pays its dividends. As a result, the fund's distribution rate over the past 12 months was a robust 6.0%.

Performance: The fund returned a whopping 37.3% over the past year. But that lagged the lion's share of foreign large-company value funds. One reason: The portfolio sports fewer industrials and materials stocks than its benchmark, and both sectors rallied strongly.

Takeaway: Dividend strategies can sometimes be out of sync with broad benchmarks, but we still like this income-focused strategy.

Fidelity Select Health Care

• Symbol: FSPHX
• 1-year return: 11.4%
• 5-year return: 3.7%
• 10-year return: 10.5%
• Yield: 0.4%
• Expense ratio: 0.63%

Portfolio: Manager Eddie Yoon invests across the sector, blending high-quality companies that have stable earnings with innovative firms that are disrupting the marketplace.

Process: Yoon focuses on free cash flow and capital allocation, which he believes are the biggest drivers of long-term shareholder value. He also examines market opportunity, sales growth and profit-margin outlook and concentrates on his best ideas. Eli Lilly (LLY), Danaher (DHR) and Boston Scientific (BSX) are top holdings.

Performance: Over the past 12 months, Select Health Care eked out an 11.4% return, lagging its peers.

Takeaway: Despite recent struggles, Yoon has an enviable long-term record, with peer-beating annualized returns over the past 10 and 15 years.

T. Rowe Price Global Technology

• Symbol: PRGTX
• 1-year return: 33.5%
• 5-year return: 4.5%
• 10-year return: 17.6%
• Yield: 0.0%
• Expense ratio: 0.92%

Portfolio: Tech and tech-related stocks from all over the world.

Process: Manager Dominic Rizzo looks for companies that have linchpin technologies in innovative, growing markets; show improving fundamentals; and trade at reasonable valuations. He's enthusiastic about AI and semiconductor stocks.

"AI is bigger than people think," he says.

Performance: Rizzo has captured more upside and less downside than his peers since he took over in late 2022. That has helped to buoy the fund's returns. His annualized return of 30.0% since he arrived wallops the average 23.0% gain in peer tech funds.

Takeaway: This is a solid choice for investors looking to boost or maintain exposure to the tech sector.

Vanguard Wellington

• Symbol: VWELX
• 1-year return: 15.0%
• 5-year return: 9.4%
• 10-year return: 10.4%
• Yield: 2.1%
• Expense ratio: 0.25%

Portfolio: This granddaddy of balanced funds holds 65% of its assets in stocks and 35% in bonds. The fund yields 2.1%.

Process: Daniel Pozen picks the stocks; Loren Moran, the bonds. Both are with Wellington Management. Pozen aims to beat the S&P 500 over the long haul with "a smoother ride," says Vanguard's Jiannino. Moran offers ballast. She focuses on high-quality corporate debt and Treasuries.

Performance: Moran and Pozen have comanaged together since 2019. Over the past five years, the fund's 9.4% annualized return beat 89% of its balanced-fund peers.

Takeaway: This is a fine one-stop solution for investors with a moderate tolerance for risk.

Baird Aggregate Bond

• Symbol: BAGSX
• 1-year return: 6.1%
• 5-year return: 0.4%
• 10-year return: 2.2%
• Yield: 3.9%
• Expense ratio: 0.55%

Portfolio: A mix of high-quality U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds and securitized debt. The fund yields 3.9%.

Process: Risk control is top of mind for this fund's 10 managers. Because interest rates are hard to predict, the managers set the fund's duration (a measure of interest rate sensitivity) equal with that of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond index and seek to add value via individual bond selection and allocation to certain fixed-income sectors, among other things.

Performance: The fund has outperformed its peers in seven of the past 11 full calendar years.

Takeaway: A solid core bond holding for any portfolio.

Dodge & Cox Income

• Symbol: DODIX
• 1-year return: 7.5%
• 5-year return: 1.8%
• 10-year return: 3.6%
• Yield: 4.2%
• Expense ratio: 0.41%

Portfolio: A mix of short- and medium-maturity securitized, corporate and government debt, with a tiny dash of below-investment-grade IOUs (bonds rated double-B to single-C). The fund yields 4.2%.

Process: Seven bargain-loving managers work as a group to choose individual bonds. In 2025, they found good value in prime auto and student loan asset-backed securities, as well as government-guaranteed mortgage-backed debt.

Performance: The fund's 7.5% return over the past 12 months outpaced 93% of intermediate core-plus bond funds. Over the past three, five and 10 years, Dodge & Cox Income has consistently delivered better returns than peers.

Takeaway: This is a sound core bond fund with a standout track record.

Fidelity Intermediate Municipal Income

• Symbol: FLTMX
• 1-year return: 5.6%
• 5-year return: 1.8%
• 10-year return: 2.4%
• Yield: 2.7%
• Expense ratio: 0.37%

Portfolio: Medium-maturity municipal bonds, which pay interest income that is typically exempt from federal taxes. The fund yields 2.7%, which is a tax-equivalent 3.6% yield for investors in the 24% federal income tax bracket.

Process: Three managers focus on value-priced general obligation debt (bonds funded by state and local taxes) as well as revenue bonds (IOUs for projects such as toll bridges that generate income to pay off the bond holders).

Performance: This fund is steady and wins over time. Its five-year annualized return of 1.8% beats 80% of its peers.

Takeaway: Best for high-income investors to hold in taxable accounts.

Fidelity Strategic Income

• Symbol: FADMX
• 1-year return: 8.8%
• 5-year return: 3.5%
• 10-year return: 4.9%
• Yield: 4.1%
• Expense ratio: 0.65%

Portfolio: A mixture of high-yield debt, U.S. government bonds and IOUs issued in foreign developed and emerging markets. The fund yields 4.1%.

Process: The aim is to deliver high current income and capital appreciation by investing in a target mix of 45% high-yield debt, including floating-rate securities; 30% U.S. government bonds; 15% emerging-markets bonds; and 10% foreign developed-market IOUs.

The blend makes the most of the low correlation among those bond sectors; security selection adds extra return.

Performance: The fund's 8.8% return over the past 12 months beat 89% of its peers. Over the past five years, the fund outpaces 75% of its multisector bond fund peers, with little added volatility relative to peers.

Takeaway: A good satellite holding for a bond portfolio.

T. Rowe Price Floating Rate

• Symbol: PRFRX
• 1-year return: 4.6%
• 5-year return: 5.7%
• 10-year return: 5.1%
• Yield: 6.4%
• Expense ratio: 0.76%

Portfolio: Loans with interest rates that adjust in line with a short-term benchmark. The fund yields 6.4%.

Process: Manager Paul Massaro leads a team of crack analysts picking bank loans, which are typically issued by companies with below-investment-grade credit ratings.

Performance: Floating-rate loans thrive when rates are rising. But that doesn't mean these securities perform poorly in falling-rate environments. Though interest rates fell in 2025, Floating Rate gained 6.6%, ahead of 83% of its peers and not far from the 7.3% gain in the Aggregate Bond index.

The trick is being selective. Massaro and his analysts, for instance, avoided loans issued by tariff-vulnerable businesses, and that helped. "Our analyst team did a good job of keeping us out of trouble," he says. The fund's default rate for the past six to seven years has been 0%, compared with a 3.5% to 4% bank-loan-market default rate.

Takeaway: New tax cuts and an active mergers-and-acquisitions environment, among other things, provide a positive backdrop for sub-investment-grade companies, says Massaro.

This fund invests in lower-quality fare than found in the Agg and thus is more of a satellite bond holding rather than a core. But over the past decade, it has outpaced the Agg with less volatility.

Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond

• Symbol: VEMBX
• 1-year return: 12.3%
• 5-year return: 4.4%
• 10-year return: N/A
• Yield: 5.1%
• Expense ratio: 0.50%

Portfolio: Dollar-denominated government debt issued by developing countries. The fund yields 5.1%.

Process: Dan Shaykevich and Mauro Favino bring top-down analysis of currencies and country economics to bear before they individually select securities for the fund. In the end, "the fund becomes greater than the sum of its parts," says Shaykevich.

Performance: Over the past 12 months, the fund's 12.3% return beat peer funds, but lagged its benchmark by a bit. Even so, a lower-than-benchmark exposure to Venezuela and Lebanon (both rebounded in a big way in 2025) cost the fund a bit in performance.

"We were too conservative" in those countries, says Shaykevich. Still, "we got a lot right, too," he says. Bonds the managers had selected in Mexico, Hungary, Ukraine and Egypt buoyed the fund's performance.

Takeaway: Shaykevich expects 2026 to be a good year, but not as lofty as 2025.

The expected continued weakness in the dollar should be a boon to emerging-market economies; it lowers the burden of their dollar-denominated debt and helps keep their inflation in check. Plus, other economies in developing countries, such as Argentina, Paraguay and Oman, are improving.

Vanguard High-Yield Corporate

• Symbol: VWEHX
• 1-year return: 8.0%
• 5-year return: 4.2%
• 10-year return: 5.7%
• Yield: 5.6%
• Expense ratio: 0.22%

Portfolio: A relatively conservative mix of "junk" bonds. More than half of the assets sit in securities rated double-B, the highest-quality tier of high-yield IOUs; 10% is invested in investment-grade corporate debt (bonds rated triple-A to triple-B). The fund yields 5.6%.

Process: Wellington Management's Elizabeth Shortsleeve runs two-thirds of assets; Michael Chang of Vanguard's in-house bond group runs the rest.

Performance: Over the past 12 months, the fund's 8.0% return beat 87% of the high-yield bond fund category. The fund's safer tack tends to lag when junkier high-yield bonds rally, as they did in 2023 and 2024. But overall, this fund has been less volatile than its typical peer.

Takeaway: The economy is healthy, and this fund's conservative tilt makes it a solid long-term satellite bond position.

Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade

• Symbol: VFSTX
• 1-year return: 6.2%
• 5-year return: 2.4%
• 10-year return: 2.8%
• Yield: 4.0%
• Expense ratio: 0.20%

Portfolio: High-quality bonds that mature in one to four years. The fund yields 4.0%.

Process: Vanguard's Shaykevich and Arvind Narayanan seek to provide current income with limited volatility. Short-term corporate debt makes up 80% of the fund's assets; the rest is a mix of Treasuries, asset-backed securities and foreign debt.

Performance: Short-Term Investment-Grade has had banner returns recently, with a whopping 6.2% gain over the past 12 months. Bear in mind that the fund's long-term returns hover around 2.5% annualized.

Takeaway: A good fund for short-term cash, but don't mistake it for a cash account. The fund lost ground in 2021 (–0.4%) and 2022 (–5.8%).

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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