No-Load Funds With Winning Habits

A habit of winning every game has propelled the New England Patriots to this year's Super Bowl.

So during these times of high investor anxiety resulting from severe and unpredictable market swings, we looked for mutual funds that, like the Pats, have won consistently by racking up double-digit scores.

The table below contains 22 open-end funds that have achieved double-digit annualized returns for the latest year as well as the past three years, five years and 10 years.

Each is a no-load fund with a grade in the "A" range from TheStreet.com Ratings, which qualifies them all as "buy" recommendations. Institutional funds with initial investment requirements of more than $25,000 as well as those closed to new investors were eliminated from the playoffs.

They all easily outdistanced the Standard & Poor's 500 total-return index for each of the four time periods.

Half of the winning funds invest with an international focus, 10 with portfolios the look for opportunities outside the U.S. and one with a global perspective -- meaning domestic and international holdings.

The next biggest investment objective grouping is energy and natural resources, with four representatives on the list.

Appropriately for a month in which the Patriots represent New England in pro football's biggest game, 13 members of the group call that section of the county home. Boston-based Fidelity placed 10 funds on the squad of winners while Elfun Funds of Rhode Island placed a fund on the roster, kept company by the Jordan Opportunity Fund (JORDX Quote) of Maine.

But the big gun on the list, by most any measure, is the Boston-based CGM Focus Fund (CGMFX Quote). Its total returns for the latest year, five years and 10 years surpassed the others by comfortable margins. It stands in second place for the past three years to the Fidelity Select Natural Resources Fund(FNARX Quote) by less than a third of a percentage point.

CGMFX's biggest holdings are Vale Overseas Ltd. ADR (RIO Quote)and CNOOC Ltd. ADR (CEO Quote).

The winning habits of the funds on the list have lasted over a relatively long period. So they might have a chance of continuing to produce positive returns during the current rocky stretch.

TOP-RATED NO-LOAD FUNDS: CAN THEY MAINTAIN THEIR DOUBLE-DIGIT WAYS

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Source: TheStreet.com