Fund manager watches high-yield bond market for clues Stock mutual funds that have beaten their peers tend to be the investment equivalent of stopped clocks that are right twice a day — or less. Many outperformers in the third quarter have been carrying a lot of cash and/or been heavily invested in defensive sectors like utilities or consumer staples. They have been waiting for a correction or something much worse, and they finally got it. The problem is that some have stuck with that strategy throughout the advance since 2009 and have let the gains that other managers reaped pass them by. That’s why many funds with the best returns since the market began to falter are drastic long-term underperformers with one lone Morningstar star next to their names.