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
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Symbol | 1 yr. return | 5 yrs. annualized total return | 10 yrs. annualized total return | Yield | Expense ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Stock Funds | Row 0 - Cell 1 | Row 0 - Cell 2 | Row 0 - Cell 3 | Row 0 - Cell 4 | Row 0 - Cell 5 | Row 0 - Cell 6 |
| DF Dent Midcap Growth | DFDMX | 31.6% | 8.5% | 11.2% | 0.0% | 0.87% |
| Dodge & Cox Stock | DODGX | 29.3 | 14.2 | 11.5 | 1.3 | 0.51 |
| Fidelity Blue Chip Growth | FBGRX | 45.7 | 22.2 | 17.9 | 0.2 | 0.47 |
| Heartland Mid Cap Value | HRMDX | 18.3 | 11.9 | 9.6 | 0.6 | 1.10 |
| Mairs & Power Growth | MPGFX | 32.2 | 14.3 | 11.9 | 0.8 | 0.64 |
| T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth | PRDGX | 24.4 | 12.5 | 12.0 | 1.0 | 0.64 |
| T. Rowe Price QM US Sm-Cp Gr Eq | PRDSX | 35.9 | 10.3 | 10.8 | 0.0 | 0.80 |
| T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value | PRSVX | 33.3 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 0.5 | 0.80 |
| Primecap Odyssey Growth | POGRX | 24.4 | 11.8 | 11.7 | 0.4 | 0.66 |
| Vanguard Equity-Income | VEIPX | 27.2 | 11.6 | 10.4 | 2.3 | 0.27 |
| International Stock Funds | Row 11 - Cell 1 | Row 11 - Cell 2 | Row 11 - Cell 3 | Row 11 - Cell 4 | Row 11 - Cell 5 | Row 11 - Cell 6 |
| Baron Emerging Markets | BEXFX | 12.8% | 2.0% | 2.74% | 0.7% | 1.37% |
| Brown Capital Mgmt Intl Small Company | BCSVX | 22.7 | 8.7 | N/A | 0.0 | 1.31 |
| Fidelity International Growth | FIGFX | 15.8 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 0.4 | 0.84 |
| Janus Henderson Global Equity Income | HFQTX | 14.3 | 6.2 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 0.98 |
| Specialized Funds | Row 16 - Cell 1 | Row 16 - Cell 2 | Row 16 - Cell 3 | Row 16 - Cell 4 | Row 16 - Cell 5 | Row 16 - Cell 6 |
| Fidelity Select Health Care | FSPHX | 23.4% | 8.4% | 9.1% | 0.0% | 0.65% |
| T. Rowe Price Global Technology | PRGTX | 38.5 | 12.9 | 14.8 | 0.0 | 0.94 |
| Vanguard Wellington | VWELX | 21.4 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 2.0 | 0.26 |
| Bond Funds | Row 20 - Cell 1 | Row 20 - Cell 2 | Row 20 - Cell 3 | Row 20 - Cell 4 | Row 20 - Cell 5 | Row 20 - Cell 6 |
| Baird Aggregate Bond | BAGSX | 7.6% | 0.2% | 1.7% | 4.0% | 0.55% |
| Dodge & Cox Income | DODIX | 8.5 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 0.41 |
| Fidelity Interm Muni Income | FLTMX | 4.5 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.12 | 0.36 |
| Fidelity Strategic Income | FADMX | 11.5 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 0.66 |
| T. Rowe Price Floating Rate | PRFRX | 10.1 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 0.77 |
| Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond | VEMBX | 13.5 | 4.4 | N/A | 6.2 | 0.55 |
| Vanguard High-Yield Corporate | VWEHX | 10.5 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 0.22 |
| Vanguard Short-Term Inv-Grade | VFSTX | 7.0 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 4.5 | 0.20 |
| Indexes | Row 29 - Cell 1 | Row 29 - Cell 2 | Row 29 - Cell 3 | Row 29 - Cell 4 | Row 29 - Cell 5 | Row 29 - Cell 6 |
| S&P 500-STOCK INDEX | Row 30 - Cell 1 | 33.9% | 15.8% | 13.3% | 1.2% | Row 30 - Cell 6 |
| RUSSELL 2000 INDEX* | Row 31 - Cell 1 | 36.4 | 9.9 | 9.1 | 1.3 | Row 31 - Cell 6 |
| MSCI EAFE INDEX† | Row 32 - Cell 1 | 11.9 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 3.1 | Row 32 - Cell 6 |
| MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX | Row 33 - Cell 1 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 26 | Row 33 - Cell 6 |
| BLOOMBERG U.S. AGG BOND IDX# | Row 34 - Cell 1 | 6.9 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 4.6 | Row 34 - Cell 6 |
As of November 30, 2024. *Small-company U.S. stocks. †Foreign stocks. #High-grade U.S. bonds. N/A = Fund not in existence for the entire period.
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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.
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