The 25 Best No-Load Mutual Funds You Can Buy

The key to building wealth long-term is buying high-quality, no-load mutual funds run by seasoned stock pickers. Here are our favorites.

illustration of fund ducks in a row
(Image credit: Illustration by Maria Hergueta)

The Kiplinger 25 list of our favorite no-load mutual funds dates back to 2004, and our coverage of mutual funds goes all the way back to the 1950s. We believe in holding funds rather than trading them, so we focus on promising mutual funds with solid long-term records – and managers with tenures to match.

It wasn't the best of times or the worst of times, but as markets go, it was a solid year. Though only a few tech-oriented stocks drove returns in the S&P 500 index, the benchmark logged a 30% total return over the past 12 months through February. 

Disclaimer

Data is as of February 29, 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.

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Nellie S. Huang
Senior Associate Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Nellie joined Kiplinger in August 2011 after a seven-year stint in Hong Kong. There, she worked for the Wall Street Journal Asia, where as lifestyle editor, she launched and edited Scene Asia, an online guide to food, wine, entertainment and the arts in Asia. Prior to that, she was an editor at Weekend Journal, the Friday lifestyle section of the Wall Street Journal Asia. Kiplinger isn't Nellie's first foray into personal finance: She has also worked at SmartMoney (rising from fact-checker to senior writer), and she was a senior editor at Money.