Large-cap funds are considered prudent choices for risk-averse investors when compared with their small and mid-cap counterparts. These funds have exposure to large-cap stocks, with a long-term performance history and offer more stability than mid or small caps. Companies with market capitalization of more than $10 billion are generally considered large cap. However, due to their significant international exposure, these companies might be affected by a global downturn.

Meanwhile, investors looking for a bargain, i.e., stocks trading at a discount, are mostly interested in value funds, which pick stocks that tend to trade at a price lower than their fundamentals (i.e. earnings, book value, debt-equity) and pay out dividends. In the long run, value stocks are expected to outperform the growth ones across all asset classes and are less vulnerable to the trending markets. However, investors interested in choosing value funds for yield should check the mutual fund yield as not all value funds comprise solely companies that primarily use their earnings to pay out dividends.

Below we share with you three top-ranked, large-cap value mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future.

Fidelity Large Cap Value Enhanced Index (FLVEX – Free Report) seeks growth of capital. FLVEX invests a huge part of its assets in common stocks of companies included on the Russell 1000 Value Index. The fund invests directly in securities. Fidelity Large Cap Value Enhanced Index has three-year annualized returns of 13%.

Patrick Waddell is the fund manager of FLVEX since 2007.

Vanguard Value Index Investor (VIVAX – Free Report) invests nearly all its assets in stocks of companies that are on the CRSP US Large Cap Value Index. VIVAX seeks to replicate the performance of the index by investing a proportion of its assets in each stock as its weighting in the index. The Vanguard Value Index Investor fund has three-year annualized returns of 14.5%.