Fund Evaluator:
Hartford Balanced Income R3 (HBLRX)
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Best Performing in Moderately Conservative Allocation Over the Last Year
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Fund Details
Hartford Balanced Income R3 Overview
Hartford Balanced Income R3 (HBLRX) is an actively managed Allocation Moderately Conservative Allocation fund. Hartford Mutual Funds launched the fund in 2010.
The investment seeks to provide current income with growth of capital as a secondary objective. The fund targets an allocation of approximately 45% equity securities and 55% fixed income investments, with the allocation generally varying by no more than +/-5%. The equity portion of the fund invests primarily in common stocks with a history of above-average dividends or expectations of increasing dividends. It may invest up to 20% of the fixed income portion of the portfolio in domestic non-investment grade debt.
About Hartford Balanced Income R3 (HBLRX)
There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 8.70 years: Adam Illfelder (2019), Matthew Hand (2019), Noah C. Atlas (2025), Scott St. John (2006). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.
The fund has 5 primary benchmarks: Russell 1000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%, Russell 1000 Value TR USD index with a weighting of 45%, JPM EMBI Plus TR USD index with a weighting of 5%, Bloomberg US Corp Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 44% and Bloomberg US HY 2% Issuer Cap TR USD index with a weighting of 5%. Hartford Balanced Income R3 has 1485 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 14.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
Hartford Balanced Income R3 is part of the Allocation global asset class and is within the Allocation fund group. Hartford Balanced Income R3 has 18.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 39.8%. There is 4.5% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.3% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 53.5% (39.5% domestic bond, 13.9% foreign bond and 0.1% convertible bond). Hartford Balanced Income R3 has 1.8% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $109 million in total assets, which is below the $561 million average for the Moderately Conservative Allocation category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.
HBLRX Performance and Fees
The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Hartford Balanced Income R3 expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Moderately Conservative Allocation category. Hartford Balanced Income R3 has an expense ratio of 1.27%, which is 26% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.
High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Hartford Balanced Income R3 has a portfolio turnover rate of 61%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 43% for the Moderately Conservative Allocation category.
Recently, in the month of July 2026, Hartford Balanced Income R3 returned 0.9%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Moderately Conservative Allocation category had an average return of -0.3%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.
Hartford Balanced Income R3 has a trailing yield of 2.76%, which is below the 3.29% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.
It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.
Hartford Balanced Income R3 Grades
Year to date, the fund has returned 4.5%, 0.3 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 9.6% over the past year (grade of D), 7.9% over the past three years (grade of F) and 3.9% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 5.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).
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HBLRX Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 7/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| HBLRX Return (NAV) | 0.9% | 1.8% | 9.6% | 7.9% | 3.9% | 5.8% |
| HBLRX Grade | A | B | D | F | D | C |
| +/- Category | 1.2% | 0.6% | -0.8% | -1.5% | -0.8% | -0.2% |
| Moderately Conservative Allocation Avg | -0.3% | 1.2% | 10.4% | 9.4% | 4.6% | 6.0% |
| HBLRX Tax Cost Ratio | na | na | 2.3% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.6% |
HBLRX Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 7/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| HBLRX Return (NAV) | 4.5% | 10.3% | 5.8% | 7.3% | -9.4% | 9.5% | 7.1% | 18.5% | -5.4% | 11.1% | 10.9% |
| HBLRX Grade | C | D | F | F | B | C | D | A | F | B | A |
| +/- Category | -0.3% | -1.1% | -2.5% | -2.7% | 2.4% | -0.5% | -0.9% | 2.9% | -1.1% | 1.3% | 2.4% |
| Moderately Conservative Allocation Avg | 4.8% | 11.5% | 8.3% | 10.0% | -11.8% | 10.0% | 8.1% | 15.6% | -4.3% | 9.8% | 8.5% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Standard Deviation: | 7.8% |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.63 - Below Average |
| Category Risk Index: | 1.05 - Above Average |
| Category Risk Grade: | D (75% Rank) |
| Beta: | 0.76 |
| R-Squared: | 85% |
| Leveraged Fund: | No |
| Inverse Fund: | No |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Equity Investment Style: | Large-Cap Value |
| Bond Investment Style: | na |
| Yield: | 2.8% |
| Dividend Distribution: | Quarterly |
| Cap Gains Distribution: | Annually |
| Total Assets: | $11075 Mil |
| Fund Total Assets: | $ 109 Mil |
| Share Class Type: | Retirement |
| Portfolio Turnover: | 61% |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 4 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 20.0 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 8.7 years | |||
| Managers (Year): St. John Scott (2006), Illfelder Adam (2019), Hand Matthew (2019), Atlas Noah C. (2025) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 6/30/26)
| # of Holdings: | 1485 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 14.1% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 18.4% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 39.8% |
| Foreign Stock: | 4.5% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.3% |
| Domestic Bond: | 39.5% |
| Foreign Bond: | 13.9% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.1% |
| Other: | 0.0% |
| Cash: | 1.8% |
Purchase Information
| Fund Family: | Hartford Mutual Funds |
| Phone Number: | 888-843-7824 |
| Website: | www.hartfordfunds.com |
| Status: | Open |
| Inception Date: | May 28, 2010 |
| Min. Initial Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Initial IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
| True No-Load: | No |
| Front Load Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Deferred Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Redemption Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| 12b-1 Fee: | 0.50% |
Expenses and Fees | |
| Expense Ratio (%): | 1.27% ( Rating : High ) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 1.01% |
| Share Class: | Hartford Balanced Income Y |
| Min. Subsequent Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Subsequent IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
