7 Top-Performing Large-Value Funds

Value investing is a proven strategy for delivering returns over the long term, but finding funds that can execute the strategy well can be difficult. These seven funds have a proven track record of success.

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. Seven large-value funds made it through the screen.

• ClearBridge Dividend Strategy LCBEX
• Dodge & Cox Stock DODGX
• Fidelity Equity-Income FEKFX
• Fidelity High Dividend ETF FDVV
• Natixis Oakmark NOANX
• Oakmark Select OANLX
• WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend DLN

Large-Value Fund Performance

Over the past 12 months, large-value funds returned 8.58%. On an annualized rate, large-value funds returned 7.98% over the past three years and gained 13.20% over the past five years. That compares with the Morningstar US Market Index, which returned 12.87% over the past 12 months, gained 13.85% per year over the past three years, and gained 15.48% per year over the past five years.

What Are Large-Value Funds?

Large-value portfolios invest primarily in large US stocks that are less expensive or growing more slowly than other large-cap stocks. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the US equity market are defined as large-cap. Value is defined based on low valuations (low price ratios and high dividend yields) and slow growth (low growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow).

Screening for the Top-Performing Large-Value Funds

To find the best large-value funds, we looked at the returns data from the past one, three, and five years, using data available on 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 funds.

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.

ClearBridge Dividend Strategy

• Share Class: ClearBridge Dividend Strategy IS
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Bronze
• Morningstar Rating: 5 stars

The $8.4 billion fund climbed 13.58% over the past year, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 8.58%. The Franklin Templeton fund, which was launched in April 2013, climbed 9.64% over the past three years and gained 14.14% over the past five years.

“A recent manager departure does not affect ClearBridge Dividend Strategy’s long-term appeal, as it still has a capable management duo that is committed to its long-term, risk-conscious philosophy. This strategy’s mutual fund recently moved categories, and it is now in the large value Morningstar Category, but wherever it lands in the Morningstar Style Box, its selling points remain ... Longtime manager Peter Vanderlee stepped off this strategy at the end of 2024 to focus on managing other portfolios at ClearBridge, but capable leaders remain. Michael Clarfeld, who began managing this portfolio in 2009, continues to oversee the portfolio alongside John Baldi, who joined the management team in 2019. The two are equal decision-makers and must reach agreement before making any portfolio moves ... This strategy is not an income- or yield-oriented product. While the managers want to provide investors with a competitive dividend yield, they primarily look at dividend policy as a proxy for a business’ health. The managers believe that firms with healthy dividend policies and strong balance sheets make the best investment opportunities. These companies tend to be less volatile and do well when the market experiences a flight to quality ... Investors should not expect this fund to lead the pack in a risk-hungry market, but its consistent, risk-conscious approach should produce strong risk-adjusted returns over the long run.”

—Jack Shannon, principal

Dodge & Cox Stock

• Share Class: Dodge & Cox Stock I
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Morningstar Rating: 4 stars

The $109.8 billion fund climbed 10.62% over the past year, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 8.58%. The Dodge & Cox fund, which was launched in January 1965, climbed 9.75% over the past three years and gained 16.63% over the past five years.

“A group of managers gives this strategy stability. Seven veteran investors serve on Dodge & Cox’s US equity investment committee, including CIO David Hoeft and director of research Steven Voorhis. Its structure helps the strategy benefit from different perspectives and address team changes with relative ease (as it has in the past). Talented as it is, the committee relies heavily on an impressive unit of global industry analysts who perform the extensive research that’s key to this strategy ... The strategy seeks an edge on out-of-favor, cheap stocks. Analysts scrutinize companies’ competitive strengths, growth opportunities, and leadership. They discuss firms’ merits first in specialized sector committees; promising prospects then go before the investment committee. The managers try to take advantage of what they believe are temporary troubles to buy and add to these stocks. Such an approach courts risk. Dodge & Cox has improved its risk management in recent years, however, building in-house tools to help its investment teams better understand portfolio traits and risks facing their holdings. Managing risks hasn’t necessarily tempered the strategy’s returns—they’re typically quite lumpy over short periods—but the managers’ calm demeanor and the analysts’ vigilance often turn that volatility to investors’ advantage over time. The strategy has an impressive long-term record."

—Tony Thomas, associate director

Fidelity Equity-Income

• Share Class: Fidelity Equity-Income K6
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Morningstar Rating: 4 stars

Over the past year, the $241.5 million fund gained 10.63%, while the average fund in its category is up 8.58%. The Fidelity fund, which was launched in June 2019, climbed 9.79% over the past three years and gained 14.10% over the past five years.

Fidelity High Dividend ETF

• Share Class: Fidelity High Dividend ETF
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: 5 stars

The $5.1 billion fund climbed 11.47% over the past year, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 8.58%. The Fidelity fund, which was launched in September 2016, climbed 11.29% over the past three years and gained 17.18% over the past five years.

“Fidelity High Dividend ETF is an unorthodox strategy that balances high yield against high quality, a rare and attractive combination that should continue to drive strong long-term performance ... Yield is the main consideration. That may give investors pause because the highest-yielding stocks tend to be some of the riskiest. The fund combats that drawback by incorporating payout ratio and dividend growth—signals of financial health—into stock selection. It also screens out firms with the worst payout ratios because companies that distribute too much of their profits can be left with little margin for error ... Sensibly, the strategy evaluates companies on a sector-relative basis. That facilitates cleaner comparisons between stocks and emphasizes sectors that most dividend funds overlook, like technology. To ensure that doesn’t hurt its yield, this fund reallocates portfolio weight from lower-yielding sectors (like technology) to higher-yielding ones (like real estate) at each rebalance. This drums up more income and highlights sectors that look cheap relative to their dividends ... The fund weights stocks in proportion to their market capitalization, then layers on a layer of equal weight that boosts smaller stocks. This feature promotes diversification and can minimize the impact of riskier high-yield holdings. And unlike most US-focused peers, this fund may allocate up to 10% of its portfolio to international stocks, further improving yield and diversification. This fund has generated income while keeping risk in check. Its dividend yield consistently ranks in the large-value Morningstar Category’s highest decile, and volatility mirrors its Russell 1000 Value Index category benchmark.”

—Ryan Jackson, senior analyst

Natixis Oakmark

• Share Class: Natixis Oakmark N
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Morningstar Rating: 5 stars

Over the past year, the $1 billion Natixis Funds Trust II Oakmark Fund rose 11.20%, while the average fund in its category rose 8.58%. The Natixis fund, which was launched in May 2017, climbed 13.59% over the past three years and gained 18.81% over the past five years.

“The strategy is on a hot streak. It has thrived mainly on good stock-picking since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, besting its S&P 500 prospectus benchmark and most peers in the large-value Morningstar Category (which it joined from large-blend in March 2021). In recent years, Nygren and his colleagues took flak for venturing into companies such as Alphabet (which it still owns) and Meta Platforms (now sold) because some considered those quintessential growth stocks. But “growth” and “value” aren’t absolutes. Growth stocks can get cheap, and the Harris team has proved adept at seizing those opportunities. That’s part and parcel of the team’s multifaceted approach to finding value, which involves much more than simply looking at price metrics. The group carefully tailors its view of value to each company’s components, financials, industry, and market. While the strategy won’t always be on top, its long-run prospects are promising. That’s even while acknowledging that Bill Nygren, Harris Associates’ CIO of US equities, is entering his late 60s. Running this strategy is a team effort. Comanagers Michael Nicolas and Robert Bierig are fine complements to Nygren, sharing ideas and engaging in healthy debate with the legendary value investor ... Its current hot streak will cool down at some point, but over time, this strategy should still prove rewarding.”

—Tony Thomas, associate director

Oakmark Select

• Share Class: Oakmark Select Institutional
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: 5 stars

Over the past year, the $6.8 billion fund gained 11.90%, while the average fund in its category is up 8.58%. The Natixis fund, which was launched in November 2016, climbed 12.21% over the past three years and gained 17.42% over the past five years.

“Oakmark Select’s bold investments can make for a bumpy ride, but patient investors stand to benefit. The strategy retains its High People and Above Average Process ratings.” Oakmark Select’s bold investments can make for a bumpy ride, but patient investors stand to benefit ... This strategy is somewhat riskier than the one behind the Oakmark fund, even though manager Bill Nygren has led both offerings for many years. (He started on Select in 1996 and Oakmark in 2000.) The two strategies seek cheap stocks that can increase their per-share value under the guidance of effective management. They’re not bound by mere price metrics (such as price/earnings or price/book) when determining value. Instead, Nygren and his colleagues consider a company’s worth from various angles and with reference to its unique features and its industry. Yet unlike Oakmark itself, which invests broadly among as many as 60 stocks, Select often holds less than two dozen. Individual position sizes can get pretty big, up to 10%, and smaller-cap companies can have greater influence ... Nygren, now 66, has trained up a strong team—including comanagers Robert Bierig and Alex Fitch—to keep things going well into the future. Bierig and Fitch are true complements to Nygren; whereas Nygren often takes a higher-level, bigger-picture view of companies, Bierig and Fitch are regularly down in the trenches doing company-specific research. Fitch, for his part, also oversees the US-focused research team ... One recent development is intriguing. The October 2024 hire of quantitative analyst Timur Sahin could give Nygren and his colleagues greater awareness of risks and new ways to handle them. While wholesale changes aren’t likely, Sahin’s work might make this good strategy better around the edges.”

—Tony Thomas, associate director

WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend

• Share Class: WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend Fund
• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Morningstar Rating: 5 stars

Over the past year, the $4.8 billion WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend rose 13.62%, while the average fund in its category rose 8.58%. The WisdomTree fund, which was launched in June 2006, climbed 9.76% over the past three years and gained 14.09% over the past five years.

“WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend ETF is a great contrarian fund that charges a low fee, diversifies well, and incorporates quality and momentum factors into its process to mitigate key risks. The WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Dividend Index, which this fund fully replicates, follows a shrewd blueprint. It absorbs 300 of the market’s largest dividend payers and weights them by their expected dividends for the following year. Weighting by total expected dividends rather than dividend yield favors larger companies over the highest-yielding ones. Stocks with the best quality and momentum traits then earn extra weight, rewarding healthy companies and limiting exposure to those with potential flaws ... When this fund restores stocks’ dividend weights at each annual rebalance, it effectively doubles down on stocks whose prices sank relative to their dividends and peers and trims exposure to the best performers ... The fund’s 12.1% annualized gain over the 15 years through March 2025 ranked among the top 5.0% of large-value funds. Surveying the entire US large-cap market keeps the fund diversified. Sector- and holding-level constraints prevent concentration at those levels, too. The top 10 holdings represented 26% of assets entering March 2025, more than the Russell 1000 Value’s 18% but less than the average large-value fund’s 31%. No sector cracked one fifth of the portfolio assets. Cost is an advantage. The fund’s annual turnover ratio ranked in the large-value category’s best quartile for 10 straight years, requiring low trading costs that erode returns. Its annual expense ratio ranks in the category’s cheapest quintile. That gives it a lower hurdle than most to beat the category index.”

—Ryan Jackson, senior analyst