If you are like most mutual fund investors you are looking for some of the top mutual funds available to you that you can count on to outperform the overall market. As an investor in a mutual fund you must realize that no mutual fund manager can always make the right stock picks and no mutual fund will be immune from economic downturns such as the one we have right now.

The true key to finding the best mutual fund is to look for consistent out performance by the mutual fund. What does this mean? It means that this mutual fund needs to perform better than the average mutual fund in its peer group quite consistently. If you are looking at a large cap growth mutual fund then you should compare this fund against others that invest in similar companies. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges.

The best mutual fund managers will clearly state their investment theories in annual reports, and you would be wise to look closely through these reports. Understand what this mutual fund manager is thinking about the market and see if you agree with his method of picking stocks that should do well in the future. Another often overlooked point that is very important is the length of time this manager has spent with this particular mutual fund. It is a huge plus if the mutual fund manager outperforms over a long period of time at the same fund, but it is a red flag if the mutual fund has done very well, but continues to switch managers in recent months or years. Manager tenure should be one of the main things you look for in a top mutual fund.

The best of the mutual funds will also have the things that we should be able to count on, but aren’t always able to. These things include; great customer service, no-loads, and low management fees. There are tons of mutual funds out there, as an investor you can afford to be picky!