Large-cap funds are considered prudent choices for risk-averse investors when compared to 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, large-cap 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 trending markets. However, investors interested in 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.

Lord Abbett Calibrated Large Cap Value A (LCAAX - Free Report) invests a chunk of its assets in equity securities of large-cap companies. LCAAX seeks a high level of returns. The fund primarily focuses on investing in those large-cap companies that are expected to be undervalued. Lord Abbett Calibrated Large Cap Value A has three-year annualized returns of 5.4%.

LCAAX has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared with a category average of 1.00%.

Northern Large Cap Value (NOLVX - Free Report) invests a large chunk of its assets in securities of those large-cap companies, whose market-cap is similar to those present on the Russell 1000 Value Index. The fund seeks capital appreciation for the long run. Northern Large Cap Value has three-year annualized returns of 6.4%.

As of January 2019, NOLVX held 131 issues, with 3.84% of its assets invested in Exxon Mobil Corp.

Thrivent Large Cap Value S (TLVIX - Free Report) invests a major portion of its assets in equity securities of large-cap companies. The fund advisor focuses on investing in both U.S. and non-U.S. large-cap companies that have market-cap similar to those included on the MSCI USA Large Cap Index, the S&P 500 index and market-cap categories put out by Lipper, Inc. Thrivent Large Cap Value S has three-year annualized returns of 8.2%.

Kurt J. Lauber is the fund manager of TLVIX since 2013.