Defensive Funds

These fund picks have fared better than their peers in tough markets.

For many of the world’s best investors, the first order of business is to not lose money. (For some, that is both the first and second order of business!) Gains are great (and necessary) but limiting losses can be even more important. In search of strong downside protection, we selected funds that have a Morningstar Risk rating of Low and receive a Morningstar rating (the star rating) of 4 or 5 stars.

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Name	Ticker	Morningstar Category	Total Return 1 Year	Total Return 3 Year	Total Return 5 Year
Janus Henderson Small Cap Value D	JNPSX	Small Value	19.70%	2.06%	4.89%
Hsyhq Twmjhfshl Rdklj Pgq Mtvts	FXCR	Small Value	19.68%	2.33%	5.10%
Xdxdyl Yfzptmt Ywdzxh FMWR	KTXWL	Large Blend	12.33%	5.58%	11.13%
Sdmkym Vxqlfl Ftpbdc Rtcztkdfjcmmdp B	FPYYF	Infrastructure	5.74%	7.50%	6.63%
Qxnqlql & Zfbdvz Spkstd DQZ	GKLHW	Intermediate Core Bond	3.11%	−1.24%	—
Hngwsfrmvs Sythbhrgklcs Cfcjfqqfpg	HJTXWZ	Large Growth	22.80%	12.53%	15.05%
MtJ Zqcbypzvbzmj Dlpnykldgt Pz	LWMY	Moderately Conservative Allocation	8.13%	1.06%	4.37%
Bbsnrhygcnj Zsj Mnv Qj	NYHVY	Mid-Cap Value	19.56%	4.56%	10.99%
Sfwtmdfbd Fbkmhg Frqkqgx Gvlhwr	CLSLJ	Small Growth	14.76%	1.09%	8.33%
Cjqwsxvyl Pzfvrm Pbqzfnj Kp	MSFCCN	Small Growth	14.63%	0.99%	8.23%
Xbxvxkhvh Vzpnlt Rtsb Yscyhr MYTH	DQFTN	Real Estate	3.12%	—	—
Gqqznxs	GGFW	Large Growth	29.56%	10.28%	14.25%
Kybkmvhl KT QZB	SHGGP	Mid-Cap Growth	18.20%	2.62%	8.86%
Pvlkhtxk Mqwkszc Fmlmkml Q	YVYW	Small Growth	13.12%	−0.31%	6.83%
Fxtvdx Zdhxd Pdvh Wylc Qybbn	KBNQW	Short-Term Bond	4.07%	1.13%	1.84%
Xvxfqq Rfwdnpvz Dkvyqws Ndnr Kg Wbmysyfs	MDKM	Emerging Markets Bond	7.61%	−0.59%	2.38%
Fmvprzfxpw Xlblkb Zcvkmp Thrwhzsl	FTSC	Mid-Cap Blend	22.83%	7.13%	—
C. Mtzr Wsjdn Xdlrxjrv Ddsrnh	MCXHC	Large Blend	15.69%	6.84%	11.67%
Q. Ntlv Hjvxn Psgrhzyl Lsrjmf Qqdv	BKPSX	Large Blend	17.02%	6.68%	11.40%
V. Tjwf Tndnx Rtbxqbrglj KN Rh Xc Nb	GGYYTQ	Small Growth	19.55%	0.69%	8.19%
H. Wnnt Vqfyc Fpyfnczmpn TX Hz Jj Mp Ws	ZWZJ	Small Growth	19.21%	0.39%	7.87%
G. Fybb Khgtx Yyxgnw Nn-Qt Yp Xg	DMTXT	High Yield Muni	4.04%	−0.19%	1.50%
W. Lwqm Jtjvh Kvkdv Pxdkylsdbd	CDFFH	Latin America Stock	18.69%	4.71%	2.13%
L. Zgcf Mdbsd Ydv-Mrm Xfnfmwdyq	TRBMS	Mid-Cap Growth	17.68%	0.97%	8.31%
G. Lrnd Lztrq Xmx-Rks Trkhrp Dtcgyg	SHKZ	Mid-Cap Growth	17.36%	0.71%	8.01%
S. Zcqy Zfypr Shpklq 1985222	JKBYR	Target-Date 2035	13.64%	1.69%	7.10%
W. Rqqg Khhws Xxwcqm 7849696	PTZWWT	Target-Date 2045	18.72%	2.63%	8.38%
Nnkcb Bgky Fyb Lmp Nprzr	FGDHTK	Mid-Cap Growth	17.48%	7.96%	12.36%
Rlddt Bdbw Mtkdq Qlh Ckvsyljtrnyhl Hjh	KDVWC	Small Growth	18.89%	3.09%	9.52%
Khpspqrr Vwjmnt Jbkn	FYQCC	Equity Energy	21.15%	17.81%	5.11%
Brwxdvwz Dqqmyq Scwnygx Twghfphjfy D	MKTSHZ	Global Large-Stock Blend	12.46%	5.26%	5.17%
Rskqxksr Ztfkcf Qnfb Fqkn	WTHD	Health	4.21%	5.83%	10.28%
Rhcfxfcv Kqfklp Mmmpgtwhhg 4355 Bdnxl	DJVYF	Target-Date 2065+	18.81%	3.78%	8.95%

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List Criteria

Gold- and Silver-Rated Funds

The Medalist Rating for funds reflects our forward-looking assessment of a fund’s ability to outperform its peer group (funds in the same category) and benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. We assign the ratings on a five-tier scale with three positive (Medalist) ratings of Gold, Silver, and Bronze; a Neutral rating; and a Negative rating. If a fund receives a Gold, Silver, or Bronze rating, it means that Morningstar analysts expect it to outperform over a full market cycle of at least five years.

Low Morningstar Risk Rating

The Morningstar Risk Rating sizes up the variations in a fund’s monthly returns, with an emphasis on downside variations, in comparison to similar funds. In each Morningstar Category, the 10% of funds with the lowest measured risk are described as Low Risk, the next 22.5% Below Average, the middle 35% Average, the next 22.5% Above Average, and the top 10% High. Morningstar Risk is measured for up to three time periods (three, five, and 10 years). These separate measures are then weighted and averaged to produce an overall measure for the fund. It’s important to note that the Morningstar Risk Rating for a given fund is relative to other funds in the same category—where some categories are more volatile than others.

4- and 5-Star Funds

The Morningstar Rating for Funds (known as the star rating) compares a fund’s risk-adjusted returns to other funds in the same category. (“Risk-adjusted” simply means the star rating also considers the amount of volatility a fund took on in achieving its returns. Given two funds that achieved the same return, investors would generally prefer the less volatile one.) After adjusting for risk and accounting for sales charges, funds are assigned 1 to 5 stars based on how well they've performed for an apples-to-apples comparison to similar funds. Within each Morningstar Category, the top 10% of funds receive 5 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. Funds are rated for up to three time periods-three, five, and 10 years-and these ratings are combined to produce an overall rating. Ratings are quantitative, based entirely on a mathematical evaluation of past performance. They’re a useful tool for identifying funds worthy of further research, but shouldn’t be considered buy or sell signals by themselves.

Open to New Investment

All the funds on this list are open for new investment. Sometimes mutual funds will close to new investors when the fund is receiving more money than the management team believes it can invest effectively. Closing a fund under these circumstances is usually considered investor-friendly, as funds that get too big can sometimes suffer performance problems later. Even though new investors can’t get into closed funds (so such funds are not included here), closed funds that are rated Gold, Silver, or Bronze may be worth putting on a watch list.

Share Class Exclusions Applied

Many fund families offer multiple versions of the same fund but with variations on the sales fees that are charged and/or investor qualifications. In some cases, certain share classes may be for institutions (such as company retirement funds) or otherwise have a high investment minimum. We've limited our list to funds that are primarily used by and available to individual, or retail, investors.