Founded in 1971, Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC or PIMCO is an internationally acclaimed investment management firm. The company provides a wide range of financial services in 11 countries with the help of more than 2,200 employees. PIMCO had around $1.69 trillion assets under management as of Sep 30, 2017.

PIMCO offers a broad lineup of investment solutions to its clients that encompass the entire gamut of equities, bonds, currencies, real estates, alternative investments and risk management. Though the firm manages an array of mutual funds, it is best known for those based on fixed income.

Below we share with you three top-ranked PIMCO mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of PIMCO funds.

PIMCO Municipal Bond A (PMLAX - Free Report) seeks a high level of income free from federal income tax as well as preservation of capital. PMLAX invests a bulk of its assets in debt securities whose interest is exempted from federal income tax like muni bonds. The fund may also invest around one-fifth of its assets in money market instruments and U.S. government securities. PIMCO Municipal Bond A has one-year annualized returns of 5.7%.

David Hammer has been the fund manager of PMLAX since 2015.

PIMCO StocksPLUS Small A (PCKAX - Free Report) invests in fixed income securities related to the Russell 2000 Index, including bonds and other derivatives, in order to derive higher returns than the index. PCKAX invests in securities from public as well as private sectors issued globally. The fund focuses on fixed income instruments that are actively managed by PIMCO. The one-year annualized return for PIMCO StocksPLUS A is 19.7%.

As of September 2017, PCKAX held 521 issues, with 29.94% of its assets invested in RU20INTR TRS EQUITY 3ML-24 *BULLET* BPS.

PIMCO High Yield Spectrum Fund D (PHSDX - Free Report) seeks maximization of returns. PHSDX invests a bulk of its assets in a portfolio of junk bonds or high-yield securities. These debt securities include convertibles, forwards or derivatives that are rated below investment grade by Moody's, or equivalently by the S&P or Fitch. PIMCO High Yield Spectrum Fund D has returned 7.2% in a year’s time.

PHSDX has an expense ratio of 0.95% compared with the category average of 1.02%.