Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. However, it’s always interesting when Morningstar’s star ratings (a quantitative measure of a fund’s risk-adjusted performance relative to its category peers) and Medalist Ratings (a more qualitative judgment of a fund’s prospects) don’t align. Here are two reasonably priced balanced strategies with middling past performance but all the right pieces.

Fund Information

Source: Morningstar Direct. Data as of 6/27/2025.

DFA Global 50EQ-50FI Portfolio

The 50/50 risk option hasn’t had the same success as the others in DFA’s global portfolio series. It has a three-star rating due to its tilts toward smaller and cheaper stocks, as well as an unfavorable asset mix at 50% equity and 50% fixed income. The median global neutral balanced peer held a more aggressive blend with 56% equity as of May 2025.

However, the strategy still earns a Medalist Rating of Silver due to its efficient process and well-staffed teams. DFA’s strong research group continuously churns potential improvements to the firm’s strategies; refinements include the consideration of price momentum when adding or trimming positions. Economical trading desks keep costs low despite frequent tweaks to the portfolio. The MER of the F share class at 0.29% is comparable to purely passive alternatives and much better than most active peers.

Vanguard Global Balanced Series

Despite its well-deserved reputation as an index-tracking provider, Vanguard also possesses solid active management capabilities. The Vanguard Global Balanced fund suffered in the past few years from its value tilt and structural underweight toward equity. (The fund typically sits around 65% equity vs. 74% for the median category peer.) As a result, the F share class’s 2024 return ranked in the lowest decile in the Global Equity Balanced category.

However, strong bottom-up analysis from the reputable Wellington team still earns the fund a Medalist Rating of Silver. Lead manager Nataliya Kofman runs the Wellington quality value equity group and benefits from over 50 global analysts. Co-manager Loren Moran heads up a well-rounded fixed-income group with expertise in corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities. Fees are also attractive for this active strategy at 0.59% for the F share class.

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