Looking back at what made sense for portfolio building in 2020, mutual funds were honestly one of the smartest moves for people who didn't want to obsess over individual stocks. I mean, if you're not glued to the market, these actively managed funds with their diversified holdings just made sense.

The thing most people overlooked though was really digging into the basics. Everyone talks about returns, but the expense ratio is what quietly eats into your gains year after year. You wanted to stay under 1% if possible -- that's the real key nobody emphasizes enough. And yeah, past performance doesn't guarantee anything, but it's still worth checking out the track record.

I noticed a lot of folks comparing mutual funds to index funds and ETFs back then. The index funds had this advantage with lower fees since they just tracked something like the S&P 500. ETFs were interesting too because you could trade them throughout the day, whereas mutual funds only settled once after market close. But if you were after stability and solid returns, the best mutual funds 2020 had to offer were still the large cap plays -- companies with market caps over $5 billion.

Vanguard's dividend growth fund was genuinely solid. VDIGX was holding names like Medtronic, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, UnitedHealth, and Johnson & Johnson. The expense ratio sat at just 0.22%, which was basically giving money away compared to what others charged. You needed $3,000 minimum, and the yield was around 1.6%, but over five years it had delivered 76% total returns. That's the kind of core holding that actually works.

Then there was the China angle. Fidelity's China Region Fund looked interesting if you thought the trade tensions might ease. Tencent, Alibaba, TSMC -- these were the kinds of names in there. The 0.95% expense ratio wasn't bad for a China-focused fund, no minimum investment required, and it had cranked out 54% over five years. That was worth considering if you wanted exposure to that recovery story.

Gold mining was another interesting play. American Century's Global Gold Fund held Barrick Gold, Newmont, Franco-Nevada, and Kirkland Lake Gold. The 0.68% expense ratio with $2,500 minimum was reasonable. What got people's attention was that 58% five-year return -- basically double what gold prices themselves had done. That's because the best miners with solid operations could still turn profits even when prices dipped.

So yeah, when you were looking at the best mutual funds 2020 had available, it really came down to understanding what you were paying in fees, checking the actual performance, and picking funds that aligned with where you thought opportunities were heading. The dividend plays, international exposure, and commodity hedges each had their place in a balanced approach.