Picking mutual funds can be a complex daunting task. After all, there are literally hundreds of funds that you can pick from. Like anything else, you should keep it simple and stupid. Stick to the basics. Look for funds that have low fees, the investment theme is easy to understand and look at the long term track record.

I would avoid the ones with fancy themes or descriptions. They tend to carry high fees and underperform the market. Basically, you're paying for a filet mignon but is instead getting hamburger. To justify their exhorbitant fees, these funds tend to take more risks to generate the higher returns.

For those that can be bothered with doing your own research on investing, I agree you should buy mutual funds. Personally, I find it obscene that you should be 3% annually for sub par performance.