5 Top-Performing Mid-Cap Growth Funds

Mid-cap growth funds have started 2025 with a bang, posting the highest returns of all Morningstar Style Box categories. The average mid-cap growth fund has gained 6.5% this year, beating the return on the overall stock market by nearly 2 percentage points.

Stepping back and looking at the long term, to find the top-performing funds in this category, we looked for those with the best returns over the last one-, three-, and five-year periods. Five names made it through this screen:

• Fidelity Mid Cap Growth Index Fund FMDGX
• iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF IWP
• Touchstone Mid Cap Growth Fund TFGRX
• Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund VMGMX
• Voya Russell Mid Cap Growth Index Portfolio IRGJX

Mid-Cap Growth Funds Performance

Over the last 12 months, mid-cap growth funds have returned 17.85%. On an annualized rate, they have returned 8.03% over the last three years and 9.03% over the last five. That compares with the Morningstar US Market Index, which has returned 23.76% over the last 12 months, 13.32% per year over the last three years, and 13.94% per year over the last five years.

What Are Mid-Cap Growth Funds?

Some mid-cap growth portfolios invest in stocks of all sizes, leading to a mid-cap profile, but others focus on midsize companies. Mid-cap growth portfolios target US firms projected to grow faster than other mid-cap stocks and therefore command relatively higher prices. The US mid-cap range for market capitalization typically falls between $1 billion and $8 billion and represents 20% of the total capitalization of the US equity market. Growth is defined based on fast growth (high growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow) and high valuations (high price ratios and low dividend yields).

Screening for the Top-Performing Mid-Cap Growth Funds

To find the best funds in this category, we looked at returns from the past one, three, and five years using data available in Morningstar Direct. We screened for open-ended and exchange-traded funds in the top 33% of the category using their lowest-cost primary share classes for those periods. We also filtered for funds with a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze, Silver, or Gold. We excluded funds with assets under $100 million and analyst coverage that was not 100%. This left five names.

Because the screen was created with the lowest-cost share class for each fund, some may be listed with share classes that are not accessible to individual investors outside of retirement plans, or they may be aimed at institutional investors and require large minimum investments. The individual investor versions of those funds may carry higher fees, reducing returns to shareholders. In addition, Medalist Ratings may differ among the share classes of a fund.

Fidelity Mid Cap Growth Index Fund

• Share Class: Fidelity Mid Cap Growth Index FMDGX
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

Over the past year, the $1.7 billion Fidelity Mid Cap Growth Index Fund rose 28.15%, while the average fund in its category rose 17.85%. The Fidelity fund, launched in July 2019, has climbed 13.87% over the past three years and 12.14% over the past five.

iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF

• Ticker: IWP
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Bronze
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

The $19.4 billion fund has climbed 27.96% over the past year, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 17.85%. The iShares fund, launched in July 2001, has climbed 13.69% over the past three years and 12.06% over the past five.

Morningstar analyst Zachary Evens says: “This fund doesn’t venture as far toward the growth end of the Morningstar Style Box as many peers. It still effectively represents the opportunity set available to active managers in the category. Most holdings fall into the consumer cyclical, industrial, and technology sectors. Those three sectors account for almost two-thirds of the portfolio. Technology grabs the most of any sector, with a 34% allocation, a stake that has risen in recent years. It’s currently about 7 percentage points more than the category norm.”

Touchstone Mid Cap Growth Fund

• Share Class: Touchstone Mid Cap Growth R6 TFGRX
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Bronze
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

The $1.5 billion fund has climbed 22.95% over the past year, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 17.85%. The Touchstone Investments fund, launched in February 2020, has climbed 11.41% over the past three years and 10.53% over the past five.

Morningstar analyst Eric Schultz says: “Despite changes to the team, the sensible growth-at-a-reasonable-price approach remains. The team looks for firms with accelerating earnings and enough cash flow to fund growth, while also minding valuations. Sector weightings stick close to those of the Russell Midcap Growth Index to let stock-picking lead the way, but the team can make industry bets and has tilted to biotechnology and software in recent years. Letting winners grow from mid- to large-cap status also gave the portfolio a larger-cap tilt versus mid-growth Morningstar Category peers and the index.”

Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund

• Share Class: Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Admiral VMGMX
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★

Over the past year, the $29.7 billion Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund rose 23.00%, while the average fund in its category rose 17.85%. The Vanguard fund, launched in September 2011, has climbed 9.43% over the past three years and 10.82% over the past five.

Evens says: “The portfolio’s sector complexion largely resembles the Morningstar Category with a handful of differences. Like most peers, technology stocks take center stage, but they receive even more attention here. The portfolio allocates nearly 30% to the sector versus the typical peer’s 27%. Real estate stocks also receive a higher weighting (6.6%) than the norm (2.5%), an unexpected difference given these stocks tend to fall closer to the value side of the Morningstar Style Box. Welltower, a healthcare facilities REIT, is one of the fund’s largest holdings. To offset these overweight sector positions, the fund underweights financials, healthcare, and cyclical stocks.”

Voya Russell Mid Cap Growth Index Portfolio

• Share Class: Voya Russell Mid Cap Growth Idx Port I IRGJX
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Bronze
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

The $1 billion fund has climbed 27.70% over the past year, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 17.85%. The Voya fund, launched in May 2009, has climbed 13.45% over the past three years and 11.81% over the past five.