Three Hybrid Funds Scored October Gains

"Hybrid" mutual funds, with a blend of equity and fixed-income holdings, might have sounded like safe vehicles for riding out the October stock-market slaughter.

Yet, excluding specialized funds such as those exclusively in currencies and commodities as well as "inverse" offerings, only the three hybrid funds in the accompanying table managed to gain ground last month.

Active portfolio management was responsible for the remarkable achievement. But expertise comes with a price: The expense ratios of the three funds stand well above the 1.5% typical of actively managed open-end mutual funds. ...