7 Top-Performing Large Growth Funds

Large-cap growth stock funds are often key elements of portfolios, and in recent years, they’ve been posting market-beating returns. To screen for the top-performing funds in this category, we looked for those with the best returns over the last one-, three-, and five-year periods. Offerings from Fidelity stood out, taking up four of the seven spots.

Large-Growth Funds Performance

• Fidelity Blue Chip Growth K6 Fund FBCGX
• Fidelity Contrafund K6 FLCNX
• Fidelity Growth Company K6 Fund FGKFX
• Fidelity OTC K6 Portfolio FOKFX
• Vanguard Growth Index Fund VUG
• Vanguard Mega Cap Growth Index Fund MGK
• Victory Nasdaq 100 Index Fund URNQX

Over the last 12 months, the large-growth Morningstar Category returned 14.84%. On an annualized rate, large-growth funds have returned 28.04% over the last three years and 11.94% over the last five. That compares with the Morningstar US Market Index, which has returned 17.38% over the last 12 months, 22.67% per year over the last three years, and 13.66% per year over the last five years.

Screening for the Top-Performing Large-Growth Funds

Large growth portfolios invest in big US companies that are projected to grow faster than other large-cap stocks. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the US equity market are defined as large-cap. 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). Most of these portfolios focus on companies in rapidly expanding industries.

We looked at returns from the past one, three, and five years using data 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 seven investments.

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 Blue Chip Growth K6 Fund

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

Over the past 12 months, the Fidelity fund rose 18.27%, while the average fund in its category rose 14.84%. The fund, which launched in May 2017, has climbed 37.94% over the past three years and 15.36% over the past five.

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth’s excellent leadership and skillful execution continue to be advantages, but the strategy is vulnerable if current enthusiasm for artificial intelligence wanes or geopolitical tensions flare. A drop in the Morningstar Medalist Rating of the exchange-traded fund to Bronze from Silver isn’t attributable to diminished conviction in the strategy’s People or Process ratings but instead reflects a change in the way Morningstar calculates the excess return opportunity for funds. Despite the strategy’s strengths, several share classes of the recently incepted Advisor mutual fund have fee hurdles that are tough to clear and earn Neutral ratings.

A consistent overweighting in semiconductors has helped earn the fund one of the large-growth Morningstar Category’s best results over the past decade. A $10,000 investment in its no-load share class on Feb. 1, 2015, would have grown to more than $54,000 by Jan. 31, 2025, and around $48,000 in a fund tracking the Russell 1000 Growth Index (the category’s benchmark). Few other funds managed to beat the index over that span. The portfolio’s semiconductors stake, which is dominated by sizable overweightings in Nvidia and Marvell Technology, recently amounted to roughly 23% of assets—much more than the index’s 17% and average peer’s 14% or so.

Across all vehicles, the strategy’s present size poses challenges. Its roughly $120 billion asset base, one of the world’s largest for an actively managed large-growth strategy, makes it difficult to invest meaningfully in the smaller-cap prospects that have driven much of the strategy’s past success. Still, that doesn’t necessarily relegate the strategy to mediocrity. Kalra’s position moves tend to be gradual, and analytical support from Fidelity’s deep analyst bench helps in overseeing in the fund’s sprawling portfolio.

Fidelity Contrafund K6

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★★

The $36.5 billion fund has climbed 20.21% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 14.84%. The Fidelity fund, launched in May 2017, has climbed 31.83% over the past three years and 16.30% over the past five.

The exceptional strength of Fidelity Contrafund’s longtime portfolio manager Will Danoff has kept the strategy’s massive asset base afloat. Now, Fidelity is betting that adding two seasoned co-managers—Asher Anolic and Jason Weiner—will help it do even more. Drops in the Morningstar Medalist Ratings for two of the share classes aren’t attributable to diminished conviction in the strategy’s People or Process ratings but instead reflect a change in the way Morningstar calculates the excess return opportunity for funds.

Including the $160 billion in this US-domiciled mutual fund, Danoff solely steered more than $300 billion in assets before Fidelity recently named additional co-managers to some funds he manages. He remains firmly at the helm of all of them and retains discretion when investing his portions. Here, his co-managers are particularly talented and will likely thrive running their own sleeve. Anolic and Weiner were most recently longtime collaborators at Fidelity Advisor Equity Growth (and its near-clone Fidelity Growth Discovery) and Fidelity Capital Appreciation, where they implemented an outstanding investment approach.

Their gradual assumption of about 10% of this portfolio’s assets won’t shake things up immediately. But their presence could help the fund navigate its Achilles’ heel: size. Contrafund’s heft precludes nimbleness or high-conviction bets on small- and mid-cap stocks, and it has relied on large caps to drive returns. So far, that hasn’t been much of an impediment. Mega-cap stocks like Meta Platforms and Berkshire Hathaway (the fund’s top holdings) have been big contributors to the fund’s extraordinary 18% annualized return over the past five years. A reliance on mega-caps, however well-chosen, leaves the fund exposed if market leadership shifts. That’s where the new co-managers may prove useful. Their prior portfolios included selective bets on smaller-cap and international firms. With more hands on deck, the strategy team may be able to explore more of these opportunities without compromising on the quality of the idea or liquidity of the position.

The managers’ addition may also be part of Fidelity’s succession plan for Danoff, who is in his 60s but has announced no plans to retire. In recent years, Fidelity has shown a preference for gradual leadership transitions, letting new managers take on responsibilities slowly rather than rushing to replace stars.

Fidelity Growth Company K6 Fund

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

The $23.4 billion fund has gained 24.12% over the past 12 months, while the average fund in its category is up 14.84%. The Fidelity fund, launched in June 2019, has climbed 36.80% over the past three years and 16.63% over the past five.

Fidelity Growth Company’s long-term success owes much to the stock-picking prowess of manager Steve Wymer—and especially to his early embrace of Nvidia, whose extraordinary ascent in recent years has made it a defining force in the portfolio. With fees ranging from 0.45% to 0.55% of assets—some of the lowest price tags for an actively managed fund in the large-growth Morningstar Category—the strategy remains one of that group’s most compelling options. Two share classes have performance-based mechanisms that recently pushed down their net expense ratios.

The strategy has never presented itself as tame. Wymer has long been willing to embrace profitless firms he thinks possess exceptional growth potential—notably in the biotech industry—which can subject it to high volatility. Although many of those budding hopefuls have petered out over the years, Wymer has shown a knack for spotting and successfully investing early in big winners.

The strategy’s heft is a disadvantage, in that it limits Wymer’s ability to nimbly trade or hold big positions in names he favors without exceeding ownership limits. Even so, the strategy, which has long been closed to most new investors, remains exceptional.

Fidelity OTC K6 Portfolio

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

The $2.8 billion fund has gained 17.74% over the past 12 months, while the average fund in its category is up 14.84%. The Fidelity fund, launched in June 2019, has climbed 31.98% over the past three years and 14.98% over the past five.

Investing in Fidelity OTC means trusting solo manager Chris Lin, and that’s sensible. Lin’s top-notch skills and Fidelity’s great support drive a People Pillar rating upgrade to High from Above Average alongside a continued Above Average Process Pillar rating.

For the first five months of 2025, this strategy’s returns were rough. Its retail share class’ 4.6% fall lagged 254 of the 260 actively managed large-growth Morningstar Category funds and lagged the Russell 1000 Growth Index by more than 4 percentage points. By May, Lin resolved to ignore macro noise and invest aggressively but not recklessly. From June through August 2025, the strategy gained 16.5%, topping all but 16 active category peers and thumping the index by 3.5 percentage points.

Faced with poor performance in spring 2025, Lin demonstrated intellectual honesty and humility, key qualities that helped drive the High People Pillar rating. He admits the tariff turmoil spooked him, so he didn’t boldly pursue opportunities early in the downturn. His devotion to constant learning and improvement, however, drives an ability to course-correct. Plus, Lin’s most important talent—logical, structured thinking about investments—is the engine that puts these other traits into action. Combined, these qualities signal an excellent investor capable of strong repeatable performance.

One cause for caution is that Fidelity clearly sees Lin as exceptional and has entrusted him to run more than $100 billion, an immense weight. There’s nearly $40 billion in OTC, $32 billion in the equity growth portfolios (co-managed with Kelley), and $31 billion in technology sleeves he runs for other products. Because so much of Lin’s thought applies across these portfolios, however, the load seems manageable.

Vanguard Growth Index Fund

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

Over the past 12 months, the Vanguard fund rose 16.93%, while the average fund in its category rose 14.84%. The fund, launched in January 2004, has climbed 32.48% over the past three years and 15.19% over the past five.

Vanguard Growth Index effectively represents the contours of the large-cap growth market despite being highly concentrated. A low price tag helps remedy that shortcoming and makes it a compelling option.

The fund tracks the CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index, a market-cap-weighted benchmark that captures the growth-oriented side of the large-cap market. Market-cap-weighting is an efficient way to size holdings because it harnesses the market’s consensus opinion of each stock’s relative value. Stocks that grow in size take up a larger share of the portfolio, while shrinking companies that may be struggling will have less importance. Generous buffers around the fund’s size and style borders improve the breadth of the portfolio and help tame turnover, leading to reduced trading costs.

Investors’ lofty expectations can lead to high valuations for growth stocks that may not be justified. Few companies currently match the positive sentiment embedded in the stock prices of technology giants Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple. These three stocks represent 31% of the portfolio together; the fund’s top 10 holdings, which include other behemoths like Amazon.com and Meta Platforms, account for 57% of assets. That’s 7 percentage points more than the large-growth category norm as of April 2025.

The market’s largest stocks heavily influence this fund’s return and risk. That can be a boon or a burden. With so much riding on the largest stocks in the market, the fund should do well when those stocks outperform and will suffer when they fall. For example, the exchange-traded share class gained 29% annualized since the beginning of 2023, 6 percentage points better than its average rival. But weak performance from the heaviest hitters spelled a 33% drawdown in the bear market of 2022, 3 percentage points more than its average peer.

Long-term, investors should expect periods of outperformance when the largest stocks lead the charge. But those stocks can leave the portfolio vulnerable from time to time, potentially resulting in greater losses than better-diversified peers during broad declines.

Vanguard Mega Cap Growth Index Fund

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★★

Over the past 12 months, the Vanguard fund rose 17.83%, while the average fund in its category rose 14.84%. The fund, launched in December 2007, has climbed 34.35% over the past three years and 16.30% over the past five.

Vanguard Mega Cap Growth Index effectively represents the contours of the large-cap growth market, but it is more concentrated than most. A low price tag helps remedy that shortcoming and makes the fund a compelling option.

The fund tracks the CRSP US Mega Cap Growth Index, a market-cap-weighted bogy that captures the growth-oriented side of the mega-cap market. Market-cap-weighting is an efficient way to size holdings because it harnesses the market’s consensus opinion of each stock’s relative value. Stocks that grow in size take up a larger share of the portfolio, while shrinking companies that may be struggling have less importance. Generous buffers around the fund’s size and style constraints improve the breadth of the portfolio and help tame turnover, leading to reduced trading costs.

Investors’ lofty expectations can lead to high valuations for growth stocks that may not be justified. Few companies currently match the positive sentiment embedded in the stock prices of technology giants Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple. These three stocks now represent 36% of the portfolio together; the fund’s top 10 holdings, which include other behemoths like Amazon.com and Meta Platforms, account for 63% of assets. That’s 13 percentage points more than the large-growth Morningstar Category norm as of April 2025.

The market’s largest stocks heavily influence this fund’s return and risk. That can be a boon or a burden. With so much riding on the largest stocks in the market, the fund will do well when those stocks outperform and will suffer when they fall. For example, the exchange-traded share class gained 30% annualized since the beginning of 2023, over 7 percentage points higher than its average peer. But the fund lost 34%, or 4 percentage points more than its average peer, in the bear market of 2022.

Long-term, investors should expect periods of outperformance when the largest stocks lead the charge. But those stocks can leave the portfolio vulnerable from time to time, potentially resulting in greater losses than better-diversified peers during broad declines.

Victory Nasdaq 100 Index Fund

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★★

Over the past 12 months, the Victory Capital fund rose 19.46%, while the average fund in its category rose 14.84%. The fund, launched in March 2017, has climbed 33.12% over the past three years and 15.79% over the past five.

The fund tracks the Russell 1000 Growth Index, which is derived from the broader Russell 1000 Index. The parent index encompasses the largest 1,000 US stocks that meet its liquidity criteria, which represent roughly 93% of the US stock market. Russell divides stocks into value and growth segments using three key variables: book/price ratio, earnings growth forecasts, and historical sales growth. Stocks in the most growth-oriented quartile are fully allocated to the growth index, while those in the cheapest quartile are fully allocated to their value counterpart. Those with mixed characteristics are partially allocated to each index based on the strength of their value and growth characteristics. The index implements buffer rules and reconstitutes annually.

The portfolio fits the mold of the opportunity set. Its growth characteristics, such as valuations, revenue growth, and historical earnings growth, match peers’, on average. At times, the index’s average market cap differs from the average large-growth fund, but in the long term, it’s tracked nicely. The index contains more stocks than its average peer, but it stowed 7 percentage points more than peers in its top 10 holdings as of March 2025.

The index allocates heavily to technology stocks compared with its average peer, a trend that started in 2020. It held 8 percentage points more in technology, as of March 2025. The remaining allocations closely matched peers’ portfolios, with no other sector deviating more than 3 percentage points.

The fund is fully invested, so it can lose more than peers that keep cash on hand during market downturns. However, it captures the large-growth opportunity set well, and its low fee should drive sound category-relative performance.