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 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. State Farm Balanced Fund (STFBX – Free Report), George Putnam Balanced Fund (PGEOX – Free Report) and Fidelity Balanced Fund (FBALX – Free Report). Each has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. 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 6.0%. As of the end of December 2023, STFBX had 8.4% of its net assets invested in Apple.George Putnam Balanced Fund invests most of its net assets in a portfolio of bonds and common stocks. PGEOX advisors generally invest in common stocks of large-cap domestic companies with growth or value or both characteristics.George Putnam Balanced Fund has three-year annualized returns of 5.3%. PGEOX has an expense ratio of 0.47%.Fidelity Balanced Fund invests most of its net assets in stocks and other equity securities.FBALX also invests a small portion of its assets in high-yield debt securities or junk bonds and other lower-quality debt securities.Fidelity Balanced Fund has three-year annualized returns of 5.1%. Steven Kaye has been one of the fund managers of FBALX since the end of September 2008.More By This Author:3 Consumer Staples Stocks To Buy As Prices Slow Down 5 Goldman Sachs Mutual Funds To Buy For Long-Term Gains Bull Of The Day: Block