7 Best Mutual Funds With No Minimum Investment

For those of you interested in easily accessible investments that also perform quite well, here are 7 of them -- 

MARCH 20, 2024 Invested Advice, rankings and stock market news for investors.

Good morning, investors. The S&P 500 hit a fresh record ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision today. Highlights of today's newsletter include our market insights plus these new articles: 7 Best Mutual Funds With No Minimum Investment 9 Dividend Aristocrat Stocks to Buy Now 7 Undervalued Stocks to Buy Now 7 Best Money Market Funds for 2024 TODAY'S FEATURED STORY 7 Best Mutual Funds With No Minimum Investment A well-diversified portfolio can mitigate risk and help you achieve higher returns. Some investors pick individual stocks and monitor their portfolios, but it can take a lot of time to stay on top of each holding that is contributing to your wealth (or not). Mutual funds streamline the investing process. Instead of buying numerous shares of different companies, you can buy one mutual fund and instantly have a diversified portfolio. Stock investors can also benefit from these funds, which can act as safety nets in case their individual investments don't perform well. Some of the best mutual funds have a minimum investment requirement of $3,000 or more, most notably some of Vanguard's high-quality lineup. However, those who don't have that minimum to invest right off the bat may be in search of funds that are a little more accessible. Spoiler alert: They often perform just as well. Some no-minimum mutual funds mirror a benchmark, while others are actively managed. In addition to minimum investment requirements, investors should consider a fund's expense ratio, historical returns, asset allocation and other factors before deciding if it's a good fit. Investors seeking easy entry to the best mutual funds for their financial goals may want to start their search with the following top choices. Each of these funds has no minimum investment requirement other than the cost of the initial shares: Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Fund (ticker: FNCMX). Fidelity has numerous mutual funds that do not have minimum investment requirements. FNCMX tracks the Nasdaq Composite Index and has an annualized return of 15.1% over the past 10 years. The mutual fund has a 0.29% net expense ratio. Most of the fund's capital is allocated toward large growth stocks with a strong focus on the information technology sector. Almost half of the fund's total capital resides in that sector, with communications services (14.5%), consumer cyclical (13.7%) and health care (7.5%) getting the next-highest weightings. Like many funds, FNCMX places a strong focus on the Magnificent Seven stocks. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is the largest holding, with a concentration of about 12%, while Apple Inc. (AAPL) comes in second with 11.6% of the fund's total assets. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) (6.5%), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) (6.2%) and Meta Platforms Inc. (META) (3.5%) are in the next top positions. The fund's total weighting in Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) is about 7% if you combine Class A and Class C shares. Overall, more than 95% of the fund's total assets are in corporations based in the U.S. Schwab International Index Fund (SWISX). The Schwab International Index Fund gives investors exposure to large-cap non-U.S. corporations in the stock market. This fund offers diversification for investors who allocate most of their capital to U.S.-based companies, offering a blend of growth and value stocks for a rock-bottom 0.06% expense ratio. SWISX has its assets spread across numerous stocks instead of concentrating heavily on a few picks. The fund's top position is Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) (2.3%), and the next-highest weightings are in ASML Holding NV (ASML) (2.3%), Nestlé SA (OTC: NSRGY) (1.7%), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) (1.5%) and LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton (OTC: LVMUY) (1.5%). Most of the fund's assets are in the financial services sector (18%), followed by industrials (17%), health care (13%) and consumer cyclical (12%). SWISX also offers a 3.2% trailing dividend yield. The mutual fund has a 10-year annualized return of 4.9%, but its five-year return is a bit higher, at 6.9%. Click here to continue reading. MUTUAL FUNDEXPENSE RATIO Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Fund (ticker: FNCMX)0.29% Schwab International Index Fund (SWISX)0.06% BlackRock Exchange Portfolio (STSEX)0.77% Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX)0.015% Neuberger Berman Small Cap Growth Fund (NSRSX)0.81% Fidelity Large Cap Growth Index Fund (FSPGX)0.035% Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund (SWTSX)0.03%