Retail Funds

Many retail-oriented mutual funds invest heavily in bonds rather than stocks. As this list from Morningstar shows, the only two funds with all of their portfolio assets in retail companies are bond funds. Mutual-fund experts stress, however, you should make sure expenses are below 1 percent before buying into a retail-oriented bond fund. Gains from bond funds also tend to be lower, over time, than from stock funds.

Total return

Fund name % Retail YTD 5-yr.*

Smith Barney Div. Inc. B 100% 0.6 7.2

800-451-2010

Enterprise High-Yield Bond A 100 2.3 9.4

800-432-4320

Fidelity Select Retailing 90 5.9 23.7

800-544-8888

Rydex Retailing Inv. 88 10.0 N/A

800-820-0888

MSDW Convertible B 71 1.5 9.0

888-263-2204

Source: Morningstar Inc. as of 3/31 market close.

N/A: Not available, newer fund.

*Annualized

WHITNEY DODDS WOODRUFF