GMA: Best Mutual Funds

N E W   Y O R K, April 9 -- Good Morning America contributor Mellody Hobson is the president of Ariel Capital Management in Chicago. Here's her advice for those looking to invest in mutual funds on GMA.

I picked five of my favorite funds. They're all different types, but what they have in common are great managers who've had success in good times and bad.

Selected American fund

Longleaf fund

Third Avenue Value Fund

Pimco Fund

Acorn Fund

Selected American is a large-cap value fund. This is run by a father and son team, Chris and Shelby Davis. And Shelby's father, Chris' grandfather, was a tremendously successful investor, too. So you've got three generations of experience.

Longleaf partners is a mid-cap value fund run by Mason Hawkins and Staley cats. These two guys are like Batman and Robin. They've been together since 1976 and they're still in the trenches, running a very hands-on operation.

Third Avenue value is good for a small-cap value fund. The boss is Marty Whitman. He's 76, and he just signed another five-year deal. He's already been at it for 40 years. You can imagine what he's seen. When you buy into that fund, you're buying all that experience.

For a bond fun, I like the Pimco total return fund. Forbes magazine called its manager, Bill Gross, the "Emeril Lagasse of bonds." "His eclectic ingredients are a feast for investors," it said.

The other favorite I want to mention is Acorn, which is a growth fund. When all the money managers were polled as to whom they would give their money, they gave the manager of this fund the most votes.