Hartford Mutual Funds

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In this publication, we'll be reviewing Hartford Mutual Funds. Hartford is a very well known company, especially if you're looking for a life insurance policy. The insurance and investment services industry is skilled at managing money. That means there is a good fit for these same companies to offer investors the opportunity to invest in mutual funds.

Hartford Family of Funds

Hartford Mutual Funds is part of The Hartford, which is a leading provider of investment products such as life insurance, automobile and homeowners insurance. Founded in 1810, Hartford is headquartered out of Hartford, Connecticut (Where else?). The company claims to have millions of customers serviced by its network of 11,000 independent agents, and over 100,000 registered brokers.

Additional Resources

The Hartford family of mutual funds offers investors the opportunity to work with Wellington Management Company, which is one of the oldest and largest independent investment firms in America. Hartford offers investors a complete array of products including online account access, 401k plans, Roth IRAs, 529 college savings plans, mutual funds, as well as life insurance. Hartford's family of mutual funds currently has around $105 billion in investor assets under its management. (May 2011)

Hartford Funds Fee Structure and Returns

Morningstar ratings indicate the expense ratio for all mutual funds at Hartford received an Average rating including domestic (1.25%), international (1.42%), taxable bond funds (1.05%), and municipal bond funds (1.07%). Hartford's mutual funds are heavily weighted towards domestic stock funds (66.2% of assets), with taxable funds a distant second (18.6%).

Hartford is one of the few mutual fund families reviewed that does not require a minimum investment for some of its funds, however, lower balances sometimes attract an additional account maintenance fee, usually in the range of $15 to $50 annually. Hartford offers investors a mix of mutual funds with a front load (38.5% of assets) and no-load mutual funds (61.5%). As of the end of April 2011, the average return on the family of funds offered by Hartford was 4.24%.

Top Rated Hartford Mutual Funds

The top rated mutual funds at Hartford contains a mix of domestic and foreign large cap mutual funds. Interestingly, we're seeing quite a good combination of features with these funds, including one that has no minimum investment requirement, and another that has a front load. That being said, below is a list of the top rated funds from Hartford:

Hartford International Opp HLS IA (HIAOX) - with over $2 billion in assets, this fund specializes in large blend foreign stocks spread fairly evenly across the industrial and financial services sectors. Top holdings for this fund include UBS AG, Rio Tinto PLC, and HSBC Holdings PLC. The expense ratio for this fund is 0.74%, and there is no load on this fund. The average return over the last five years was 5.13%. (May 2011)
Hartford Capital Appreciation II A (HCTAX) - with $1.2 billion in assets, this large cap blend fund specializes in the technology and consumer cyclical sectors of the market. Top holdings include Wells Fargo Company, Barclays Capital, and The Western Union Company. The expense ratio for this fund is 1.44%, and the fund charges a front load of 5.50%, which is a relatively high load based on funds reviewed to date. The minimum investment for this fund is $2,000 and the average return over the last five years was 4.92%. (May 2011)
Hartford Dividend & Growth HLS IA (HIADX) - with $5.3 billion in assets, this large value mutual fund is spread evenly across the financial services, energy, and industrials sectors of the economy. Top holdings include ExxonMobil Corporation, AT&T, Inc., and Chevron Corporation. The expense ratio for this no-load fund is 0.68%, and there is no minimum investment. The average return over the last five years was 4.36%. (May 2011)

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