Hybrid Funds: The Way to a Greener Portfolio?

In a market like this, we all could probably use more “green” in our portfolios. And I’m not talkin’ environmentally-friendly stuff. I’m talkin’ green as in Jeffersons, clams, greenbacks.

OK, so how can we put more green into our pockets? Well, with hybrids, of course. In this case, we’re talkin’ hybrid funds.

You see, hybrids are balanced funds that combine equity and fixed-income securities. And according to an article on today’s TheStreet.com by Kevin Baker, the best-performing hybrid in the Q2 (March 31 - June 30) returned 14.25%. For those 3 months! Not bad.

That hybrid is CGM Mutual Fund (LOMMX). And it’s not alone in the quarterly double-digit gains department. The second-best fund for Q2 was Fidelity Convertible Securities Fund (FCVSX), and it gained 10.60%.

Now, these are pretty great returns for a measly 3 months in a bear market. But will they hold up for a longer period of time – say, a year? That’s the big question.

But for now, it might pay to do some in-dept research on hybrids. The first place to start is the article on The Street. Who knows? Your portfolio just might become a little greener.