The 3 best mutual funds to buy in August 2024

Sometimes plain vanilla ice cream is the best flavor. This is true for investing too. Although we talk a lot about buying individual stocks here at InvestorPlace, buying mutual funds is the best choice for many investors, especially those who are just getting started with investing.

That’s because mutual funds give you instant diversification. They typically hold dozens, if not hundreds, of stocks, often from many industries. For one low price, you can own stocks that would individually cost tens of thousands of dollars.

However, not all mutual funds are the same. Some fund managers charge a lot of money to manage their portfolios. That’s why you should look for mutual fund families — that is, fund managers that offer a lot of mutual funds — with low expense ratios. They won’t drain your portfolio of every last penny (and it’s usually a lot more than just a few pennies). You want as much of your money as possible to work for you.

Below are three of the best mutual funds you can buy. They are among the lowest cost mutual funds and have an excellent track record compared to the benchmark. S&P500.

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund User Reviews

Source: Shutterstock

Buying large-cap growth stocks is a popular strategy among investors. They buy shares in the largest companies that are performing better than their competitors. That is why the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund (MUTF:FBGRX) is one of the best mutual funds you can buy.

Fidelity is one of the leaders in low-cost investing. Almost all of the company’s mutual funds have low expense ratios, and the Blue Chip Growth Fund has a fee of 0.48%. Importantly, there is no minimum amount to start investing. You can start with whatever money you have available. The portfolio has over $65.2 billion in net assets.

The fund looks for blue chips, i.e. “well-known, well-established and well-capitalized” companies with above-average growth potential. The three largest holdings of the Blue Chip Growth Fund are NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) And Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). Of the 389 stocks in the portfolio, the trio makes up a third of the total.

It is technology-heavy, but you also have significant positions in companies such as the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) And Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).

The fund has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 over the past decade, giving investors a return of 378% compared to 231% for the index. The Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund would be a great addition to any portfolio.

Fidelity Small Cap Index Fund User Reviews

Source: Shutterstock

At the other end of the spectrum is the Fidelity Small Cap Index Fund (MUTF:FSSNXSmall-cap stocks have historically been a growth engine and outperform the benchmark index over longer periods of time.

However, in recent years, small caps have lagged due to high interest rates. The Federal Reserve’s unprecedented rate hike, which occurred 11 times in one year, increased borrowing costs for small businesses. Since they don’t have the same access to financing as their larger brethren, more of their available cash goes toward financing debt. The Fidelity Small Cap Index Fund has returned 114% over the past 10 years.

But over the past month, the market has begun to turn away from the former leaders and into the small-cap sector. The Small Cap Index Fund is up nearly 4% during that period, while the S&P 500 is down 4.5%.

The three largest holdings of the Fidelity investment fund include Super-microcomputer (NASDAQ:SMCI), MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) And Carvana (NYSE:CVNA). Watch for the rebound in small caps, making the Fidelity Small Cap Index Fund one of the best mutual funds you can buy today.

Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX)

Source: Pavel Ignatov / Shutterstock.com

If mutual funds are the standard form of investment, then Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (MUTF:VFIAX) is the simplest of all. As the name suggests, its job is to replicate the performance of the S&P 500. In fact, for most investors, buying a fund that tracks the benchmark is all they need to do in their investing career.

Since its inception, the S&P 500 has grown at an average annual rate of about 10.5%. While there have been years of ups and downs, the average remains the same over time. This means that an investor can hope to double their money every seven years.

The Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares was the very first mutual fund ever launched for retail investors. It has an incredibly low expense ratio of 0.04%. There are no purchase fees, no redemption fees, and no nasty 12b-1 fees, a fee that many mutual funds charge to recoup their marketing costs.

Since the fund is equivalent to the S&P 500, its top three stocks are Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple. But you also get the full breadth of the 500 stocks in the index. For most investors, this is arguably the best mutual fund of all.

At the time of publication, Rich Duprey did not hold (directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are subject to InvestorPlace.com’s disclosure policies.

At the time of publication, the editor in charge did not hold any positions (either directly or indirectly) in the securities mentioned in this article.