7 Best No-Load Mutual Funds
No-load mutual funds have an appealing pitch: no front-end sales commission, no redemption fee, no broker taking a cut.
Fiduciary advisors have long favored this type of fund, as they are restricted from receiving commissions and typically steer their clients toward lower fees, when available.
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But the no-load label can become a shortcut that bypasses harder questions about fit, tax impact and what a fund actually does inside a portfolio.
Looking Beyond Fund Costs
Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds are just building blocks within a portfolio. What matters is how they fit together and what role each investment plays.
“Funds (from providers) such as Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, Dodge & Cox or Sequoia should be evaluated through a fiduciary lens that weighs cost, tax impact, liquidity, time horizon and the role each holding plays in the overall portfolio,” says Christopher Holtby, co-founder and chief fiduciary strategist at Wealth Advisors Trust Co. in Rapid City, South Dakota.
No-load funds often make sense as core holdings, especially when keeping costs low is a priority, but they’re not automatically the right choice in every case, Holtby says.
“Low-cost no-load funds can be excellent tools in efficient markets, but higher-cost active strategies can still earn their place when they offer differentiated exposure, downside discipline or better after-tax results,” he says.
With that in mind, here are seven no-load mutual funds that may be worth a closer look:
| Mutual Fund | Management Type | Expense Ratio | 30-Day SEC Yield |
| Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (ticker: VTSAX) | Index | 0.04% | 1.1% |
| Vanguard Wellington Fund (VWELX) | Active | 0.25% | 2.1% |
| Vanguard Primecap Fund (VPMCX) | Active | 0.35% | 0.7% |
| Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) | Active | 0.74% | 0.7%* |
| Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX) | Index | 0.015% | 1.2% |
| Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (SWPPX) | Index | 0.02% | 1.1% |
| Dodge & Cox Stock Fund (DODGX) | Active | 0.51% | 1.3% |
*Yield is based on the trailing-12-month distribution, as actively managed growth funds often fluctuate in SEC reporting.
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX)
This fund tracks an index of large-, mid- and small-cap stocks from the growth and value categories. This is a popular fund, with $448 billion under management. Its 30-day SEC yield is 1.1%.
“VTSAX is the fund I point people to when they ask me what to buy and (they) do not want to think about it again,” says Brennan Kolar, a financial analyst and founder of CPA Index in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This fund’s expense ratio of 0.04% means investors pay $4 a year for every $10,000 invested, he adds.
“The biggest thing people overlook with VTSAX is the tax efficiency,” Kolar adds. “Because it tracks the total market and has very low turnover, it generates minimal capital gains distributions compared to actively managed funds.”
Over time, he adds, those small distributions can make a difference in a taxable brokerage account.
Vanguard Wellington Fund (VWELX)
Although Vanguard has a reputation for managing index funds, the Wellington Fund is one of its actively managed offerings.
“VWELX is one of those funds that does not get enough attention relative to how well it has performed,” Kolar says. In fact, the fund pre-dates Vanguard, having been established in 1929. Decades later, Vanguard took over administration functions, but the fund is still managed by Wellington.
This is a balanced fund, holding about 65% stocks and 35% fixed income, giving investors built-in diversification, Kolar says.
“I like it for someone within 10 to 15 years of retirement who wants growth but cannot stomach a 100% equity portfolio,” he says.
“The bond allocation cushions drawdowns, and Wellington’s active management has historically kept pace with or beaten its benchmark over long periods,” he adds.
The fund’s $3,000 minimum investment may make it unsuitable for investors with only a small amount to put in the market.
Vanguard Primecap Fund (VPMCX)
This is another active fund sponsored by Vanguard and subadvised by an outside manager, in this case, Primecap.
The fund focuses on growth stocks across large and midsize companies, with managers looking for stocks that may be out of favor but still have strong long-term potential. Managers rely on fundamental research, including analysis of financial strength, competitive position and valuation. Managers run separate sleeves, which can lead to some concentration in certain sectors or holdings.
VPMCX’s largest positions are Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), Micron Technology Inc. (MU) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL).
The fund is benchmarked to the S&P 500, but tilts toward mid caps and small caps, which gives VPMCX an edge when those asset classes outperform larger stocks. It underperformed the S&P 500 in 2024, when smaller stocks lagged, but it outpaced the benchmark in 2025 and is doing so again this year.
The fund’s expense ratio is 0.35%, its 30-day SEC yield is 0.7% and its turnover is 11%.
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Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX)
This actively managed large-growth fund has returned an average of 26.8% annually over the past three years as of March 25, on the strength of heavily weighted components such as Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).
Active management means a higher expense ratio than you find with most indexes. Fidelity Contrafund’s fee of 0.74% is neither exceptionally high nor low for an active vehicle.
The fund is benchmarked to the S&P 500; with the dominance of large tech in that benchmark, it’s a tough hurdle to clear, but Contrafund has leaned heavily into the same mega-cap leaders.
Top sectors represented in the fund are information technology, communication services and financials. Portfolio turnover is always something to monitor in an actively managed mutual fund, as frequent transactions can result in hefty tax bills, even for investors who don’t sell shares. Contrafund’s turnover rate is 29%, which is on the lower side for an active fund but well above many index funds.
Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX)
You might think of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, for S&P 500 exposure, but this mutual fund has a lower expense ratio than the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).
However, investors should balance the fees with an ETF’s more tax-efficient structure. “FXAIX is about as straightforward as it gets. S&P 500 exposure at a 0.015% expense ratio, which is essentially free,” Kolar says.
“I tend to compare it directly against VTSAX: FXAIX gives you the 500 largest U.S. companies, while VTSAX gives you those same 500 plus another 3,000 mid- and small caps,” he adds. For someone who only wants a large-cap fund, FXAIX’s cost may make it the most attractive choice.
Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (SWPPX)
Like FXAIX, this is the S&P 500 index packaged as a mutual fund. The expense ratio here is 0.02%, in line with ETF fees.
This is a straightforward, low-cost vehicle with no minimum investment. That’s handy for giving all investors, even those with limited funds, broad exposure to the biggest U.S. companies, and it can serve as a core portfolio holding. As with other S&P 500 funds, turnover is extremely low, which keeps trading costs down and limits taxable distributions in most years. That’s an inherent advantage of index funds: They don’t need to trade much to do their job.
Of course, owning an S&P 500 fund means leaning heavily into large-cap U.S. stocks, particularly in technology. That concentration has been a tailwind in recent years, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re trying to build a more balanced portfolio.
S&P 500 investors should be sure there’s not too much duplication of positions in other funds they own. Still, for investors who want broad market exposure without overthinking it, this type of fund does exactly what it’s supposed to do. It’s not trying to beat the market. It’s just giving you the large-cap U.S. market at a very low cost.
Dodge & Cox Stock Fund (DODGX)
Dodge & Cox specializes in no-load funds, emphasizing long-term results over asset gathering. According to the company, “We focus on delivering investment results to our clients, not growing assets. No one at Dodge & Cox is compensated for bringing in new business.”
Its flagship fund seeks long-term growth and income, with a secondary focus on generating current income. Managers screen for big, established companies that are out of favor but still have strong long-term potential. Top holdings are Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), RTX Corp. (RTX) and Alphabet.
It mostly sticks to U.S. stocks, with a little exposure abroad, and picks stocks based on fundamentals, valuation and company management. Its 30-day SEC yield, net of expenses, is 1.3%. It’s benchmarked to the S&P 500 as well as the Russell 1000 Value Index.
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7 Best No-Load Mutual Funds originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 03/26/26: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.