7 Funds to Rebuild Your Nest Egg for 2012

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Baby boomers, many looking straight down the barrel of retirement, are trying to get their financial house in order after what has essentially been a lost decade in stocks.

One of the best ways to turn that around, at least for the average investor who feels whipsawed by stock-market volatility, is to buy mutual funds with great long-term track records and leave the driving to the professionals. The goal now is to get a decent return and also protect downside risks to preserve hard-won capital.

Investing in your 60s won't result in much of a return if you're just about to retire, but given the current economy, many Boomers are looking at least another half-decade or more of work, and with the right choices, they could be able to pad their retirement funds to live more comfortably in the so-called "golden years."

But many dispirited investors have moved to the sidelines, when most should still be in the game, playing catch-up after watching their 401(k) shrivel.

So we did some fund reviews relying on the research of fund tracker Morningstar and analysis and ratings firm S&P Capital IQ data to find out which have less-volatile returns with the likelihood of generating gains over the next five years.

Some of these funds have steadily churned out returns of as much as 10% per year over the past decade, while the others have doubled the S&P 500's performance.

They also have excellent Sharpe ratios and standard deviations, important measures in determining their relative stability in volatile markets, versus their peers.

Here are seven funds that could help investors get healthy returns with a minimal amount of risk to their capital along with a few of their top individual holdings:

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