3 Top-Ranked Balanced Mutual Funds to Buy for Risk Management & Growth

Balanced funds offer investors the convenience of buying into a single fund rather than holding both equity and bond funds. This category of funds also reduces a portfolio’s volatility, while providing higher returns than pure fixed-income investments. The fund managers also enjoy the flexibility of changing the proportion of equity and fixed-income investments in response to market conditions. An upswing may prompt them to hold a relatively higher share of equity to maximize gains, whereas a downturn will see them shifting loyalties toward fixed-income investments to stem losses. Below, we share with you three top-ranked balanced mutual funds, viz. Victory Pioneer Balanced Fund AOBLX, State Farm Balanced Fund STFBX and Pimco Global Core Asset Allocation Fund PGMAX. Each has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of funds. Victory Pioneer Balanced Fund seeks capital growth and current income. Fund managers of AOBLX invest most of its assets, along with borrowing, if any, in securities of issuers that adhere to the fund’s environmental, social and governance criteria. Victory Pioneer Balanced Fund has three-year annualized returns of 18.1%. As of the end of January 2026, AOBLX had 59 issues with 8.3% of its net assets invested in Alphabet. State Farm Balanced Fund invests most of its net assets in equity securities of preferably large and medium-cap companies. STFBX advisors consider large and medium-cap companies as defined by S&P Dow Jones Indices at the time of investment. State Farm Balanced Fund has three-year annualized returns of 17.1%. STFBX has an expense ratio of 0.14%. Pimco Global Core Asset Allocation Fund invests most of its net assets in a combination of affiliated and unaffiliated funds. PGMAX advisors invest in fixed income instruments like bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public or private sector entities. PGMAX advisors also invest in equity securities, forwards and derivatives. Pimco Global Core Asset Allocation Fund has three-year annualized returns of 17.9%. Usman Ali has been one of the fund managers of PGMAX since April 2026. To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all balanced mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds. Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing mutual funds, each week. Get it free >>