Absolute Return Mutual Funds

Morningstar, which publishes mutual fund data, has 28 of them on its list, up from only a few several years ago.

Putnam Investments jumped into the ring in January, with four absolute-return funds for investors. Goldman Sachs started one last May, and the Natixis Funds launched its in October. The products are pitched at frightened people seeking Wall Street's holy grail: low-risk investments that can also provide attractive returns.

The average absolute return fund lost 13.2 percent over 1 year and 5.8 percent annually over 3 years, by Morningstar's count. In general, they've been less risky than stock funds, fulfilling their charter. But they don't produce positive returns in all kinds of markets, as some investors expected.You can search Morningstar and read more on these funds, but they tend to have high expense ratios and high minimum investments.