Investors interested in maintaining exposure to both equity and fixed-income securities may consider betting on balanced mutual funds. Also, these mutual funds are believed to offer higher returns than pure, fixed-income investments while maintaining a low volatility level.
The proportion of equity and fixed-income investments in these funds may also vary in response to market conditions. While managers may raise the share of fixed-income securities during a downturn to avoid losses, the share of equity securities may be increased in a bullish market. Hence, these funds are expected to harness the inherent strengths of both classes of investments.
Below, we share with you three top-ranked balanced mutual funds, viz., Payson Total Return (PBFDX), BNY Mellon International Equity (NIEAX) and Permanent Portfolio Permanent (PRPFX). Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.
Payson Total Return fund seeks a combination of high current income and capital appreciation by investing in common stock and securities convertible into common stock, which appear to be undervalued, and in investment grade debt securities, including U.S. government, government agency and corporate obligations.
Payson Total Return has three-year annualized returns of 22.5%. PBFDX has an expense ratio of 0.81%.
BNY Mellon International Equity fund invests its assets in a widely diversified portfolio of equity securities of non-U.S. issuers domiciled in developed countries, other than the United States, that are generally represented in the (MSCI EAFE Index).
BNY Mellon International Equity has three-year annualized returns of 20.7%. As of June 2025, NIEAX held 3.6% of its assets invested in BNP Paribas SA.
Permanent Portfolio Permanent fund seeks to preserve and increase the purchasing power value of its shares over the long term. PRPFX invest a fixed Target Percentage of its net assets in gold, silver, Swiss franc assets, stocks of U.S. and foreign real estate and natural resource companies, aggressive growth stocks and dollar assets such as U.S. Treasury bills and bonds.
Permanent Portfolio Permanent has three-year annualized returns of 19.8%. Michael Joseph Cuggino has been one of the fund managers of PRPFX since 2003.
To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all balanced mutual funds, investors canclick here to see the complete list of balanced mutual funds.
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