7 Top-Performing Large-Value Funds

During market selloffs, value stocks tend to stay afloat better than higher-growth, flashier areas of the market, owing to their predictable cash flows and low valuations. As the US market has been dominated in recent years by a smaller and smaller group of tech and AI giants, large value funds can help balance a portfolio.

Investors looking for a solid value fund can look to these seven funds, all of which carry high-conviction

. 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.

1. Fidelity Equity-Income K6 Fund FEKFX
2. Hartford Multifactor US Equity ETF ROUS
3. Invesco RAFI US 1000 ETF PRF
4. John Hancock Funds Disciplined Value Fund JDVNX
5. Putnam Large Cap Value Fund PEQSX
6. Schwab Fundamental US Large Company Index Fund SFLNX
7. VictoryShares US Value Momentum ETF ULVM

Large-Value Fund Performance

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).

Over the past 12 months, the average fund in the large-value Morningstar Category returned 13.88%. On an annualized basis, these funds have climbed 13.83% over the past three years and 9.17% over the past five. Meanwhile, the Morningstar US Market Index has risen 15.03% over the past 12 months, 17.44% per year over the past three years, and 10.48% per year over the past five.

Screening for the Top-Performing Large-Value Funds

We looked at returns from the past one, three, and five years in Morningstar Direct. We screened for open-end and exchange-traded funds in the top 25% of the category using their lowest-cost primary share classes for those periods. We also filtered for funds with a Morningstar Medalist Rating of 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. Medalist Ratings may differ among the share classes of a fund.

Fidelity Equity-Income K6 Fund

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

The $443.6 million fund has climbed 17.95% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 13.88%. The Fidelity fund, launched in June 2019, has climbed 15.70% over the past three years and 10.86% over the past five years.

This strategy posted stellar results in 2025. The retail share class gained 19.0%, thumping the Russell 1000 Value category index’s 15.9% return, and landed just outside the large-value Morningstar Category’s top decile.

While the fund’s low-turnover approach might suggest it simply benefited from favorable market trends, portfolio manager Ramona Persaud explains the year differently. In late 2024 and early 2025, Persaud saw elevated market risks with heightened market concentration in tech stocks, momentous election outcomes in the US and France, and interest rate uncertainty. In response, she leaned on idiosyncratic ideas such as inexpensive turnarounds and special situations that she perceived diversified and lowered the market risk of the portfolio. For example, she added to positions such as Samsung, Rolls-Royce, and Wells Fargo in the first half of 2025. Those positions posted some of the portfolio’s most significant gains.

In Persaud’s eight full years here, the fund’s retail share class gained 10.6% annualized, topping the 9.3% advance of both the Russell 1000 Value category index and the typical large-value category peer. While the dividend yield is relatively modest, its downside protection has been stout, making for a fine long-term holding.

Hartford Multifactor US Equity ETF

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

The $520.9 million fund has climbed 17.15% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 13.88%. The Hartford Funds fund, launched in February 2015, has climbed 15.68% over the past three years and 10.85% over the past five.

Hartford Multifactor US Equity ETF employs an optimizer that balances risk factor exposures with risk controls, resulting in a less risky value-oriented portfolio.

Its underlying benchmark, the Hartford Multifactor Large Cap Index, begins with the 1,000 largest US companies by free-float market capitalization. It uses an optimizer to select and weight stocks while accomplishing several goals. It tries to maximize the exchange-traded fund’s stake in stocks with a combination of low valuations, positive momentum, and high-quality fundamentals. It prioritizes value above the other two, which is why this fund sits in the large-value Morningstar Category. The optimizer contains risk by keeping the portfolio’s sector allocations in line with the broader market while trying to cut back on volatility.

Cutting back on risk dictates how this ETF will perform against the category index. It should outperform during drawdowns but fall behind when the market rallies. The portfolio ties its sector weightings to the broader market, which distinguishes it from others in the large-value category. The fund does not overweight cyclical sectors like financial services or energy, which helps further dial back on volatility.

The fund started tracking its current index in late 2019, and it has held up well against the Russell 1000 Value Index. It outperformed the category benchmark by 1.80 percentage points annualized from that date through September 2025. The optimizer has successfully cut back on volatility. The ETF’s standard deviation landed about 10% lower than the category index’s.

Invesco RAFI US 1000 ETF

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

The $8.5 billion fund has gained 18.13% over the past 12 months, while the average fund in its category is up 13.88%. The Invesco fund, launched in December 2005, has climbed 16.64% over the past three years and 10.90% over the past five.

Invesco RAFI US 1000 ETF and Invesco RAFI US ETF started tracking a new index in March 2025, but that didn’t change the discipline, diversification, and low costs that make them good long-term investments.

These ETFs now track the RAFI Fundamental Select US 1000 Index; its fundamental weighting and disciplined rebalancing schedule are very similar to the index it replaced. Fundamental weighting divorces stock prices from weightings. When the index rebalances, it doubles down on stocks whose prices declined relative to their fundamentals, like dividends and cash flows, and trims exposure to those on the rise. That works best when overhyped stocks sink and undervalued names bounce—a phenomenon known as mean reversion. The risk lies in extending too much rope to unworthy firms and prematurely reining in winners.

The US-domiciled ETF beat the Russell 1000 Value Index by about 1.7 percentage points annualized from its late 2005 launch through the end of May 2025. Nearly all that outperformance came from its previous benchmark, but the new index would have performed similarly.

John Hancock Funds Disciplined Value Fund

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

Over the past 12 months, the John Hancock fund rose 17.75%, while the average fund in its category rose 13.88%. The fund, launched in May 2009, has climbed 15.99% over the past three years and 10.69% over the past five.

In mid-2025, subadvisor Boston Partners announced that Mark Donovan, who has led this strategy since its 1997 launch and co-founded the firm two years earlier, will retire in April 2026. Such news would shake many firms. Here, it’s just the culmination of a transition that had already long been under way.

The strategy remains in the hands of comanagers who are no mere understudies. They are seasoned, deeply immersed in the investment process, and backed by a well-resourced research team. David Cohen and Joshua White, elevated to comanagers in 2018 and 2021, respectively, have since taken on substantial responsibility. White, now a co-chief investment officer at Boston Partners, has been with the firm for nearly two decades. Cohen, who arrived in 2016 from Loomis Sayles, brings his own investment pedigree. Both rose from the firm’s analyst bench and have helped drive the strategy’s outperformance versus relevant benchmarks and peers in each of the past four (and probably soon-to-be five) calendar years—results that speak to their skill and the rigor of their investment process.

The team’s three-pillar approach—seeking cheap, fundamentally sound companies with improving business momentum—stands out among value investors. A robust quantitative screen narrows the field, while bottom-up research guides final stock selection. Consideration of momentum helps avoid value traps, while an eye on balance-sheet strength adds resilience.

Distinctive touches further set this strategy apart. Unlike many of its peers, the portfolio includes a steady dose of out-of-benchmark ideas, which reflects depth in the team’s idea pipeline and its ability to uncover overlooked opportunities. In 2025, for instance, big gains from out-of-index holdings like Kinross Gold (a metals and mining stock) and Cencora (pharmaceutical distribution) contributed meaningfully to returns.

Putnam Large Cap Value Fund

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

The $46.5 billion fund has climbed 17.23% over the past 12 months, outperforming the average fund in its category, which rose 13.88%. The Franklin Templeton fund, launched in July 2012, has climbed 17.79% over the past three years and 12.76% over the past five.

Putnam Large Cap Value benefits from a proven manager and a disciplined approach.

Morningstar’s recent enhancement to the way we assess the alpha opportunity for funds, which is a key component in our Morningstar Medalist Rating calculation, means that some of this strategy’s Morningstar Medalist Ratings have changed with this update despite no changes to its pillar ratings and no significant change in fund costs.

Lead manager Darren Jaroch has a long and successful history with this strategy. He helped build the strategy’s quant model in the early 2000s as an analyst and deserves partial credit for its strong 12-year record under former manager Bart Geer. Jaroch has compiled an excellent record since taking over as lead manager in August 2012, despite facing challenges such as a significant reduction in Putnam’s central analyst team between 2014 and 2019. The research team’s stability has improved in recent years, with minimal turnover since 2022 and even adding several analysts in 2024. Lauren DeMore was promoted to comanager in 2019 after nearly 15 years as an analyst, further strengthening the team. Together, Jaroch and DeMore also run Putnam International Value, which also has a solid record.

Under Jaroch’s watch, the strategy has an excellent record. From his August 2012 start through April 2025, the A shares’ 12.3% annualized return topped the Russell 1000 Value Index and the average large-value Morningstar Category peer by 1.9 and 2.4 percentage points, respectively. Recent results have continued to impress, as the strategy’s trailing three- and five-year returns all rank in the top decile of its category. Strong stock-picking across several sectors, but particularly among healthcare and consumer discretionary names, fueled these results.

Schwab Fundamental US Large Company Index Fund

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

The $11.1 billion fund has gained 18.72% over the past 12 months, while the average fund in its category is up 13.88%. The Charles Schwab fund, launched in April 2007, has climbed 16.86% over the past three years and 11.68% over the past five.

Schwab Fundamental US Large Company uses an unconventional yet contrarian approach to take advantage of mean reverting prices that should produce a long-term edge.

This fund tracks the RAFI Fundamental High Liquidity US Large Index. It targets large- and mid-cap US stocks and weights its holdings based on sales (adjusted for leverage), retained operating cash flow, and dividends plus buybacks. When the fund rebalances, it increases exposure to stocks that have become cheaper relative to these metrics and trims those that have become more expensive.

This approach has some advantages. Steering the portfolio away from the most expensive stocks can aid performance when valuations mean-revert, meaning they appreciate back to historical levels. But there is a trade-off: Ignoring prices means the fund can overweight those with declining fundamentals, adding to its risk.

Sweeping growth stocks into the portfolio has been an advantage. They helped the exchange-traded fund beat the Russell 1000 Value Index by 2.2 percentage points annualized from its launch in August 2013 through May 2025. The mutual fund tracks the same index and has provided similar performance. Schwab charges the same 0.25% fee for each fund, which lands at the cheaper end of the spectrum in the large-value Morningstar Category.

VictoryShares US Value Momentum ETF

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

Over the past 12 months, the Victory Capital fund rose 20.05%, while the average fund in its category rose 13.88%. The fund, launched in October 2017, has climbed 16.72% over the past three years and 10.91% over the past five.

The ETF tracks the Nasdaq Victory US Value Momentum Index, which starts with stocks from the Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Index. It calculates a value and momentum score for each stock, and the index selects the 25% of those names with the highest combined value-momentum score. The portfolio then weights stocks by the inverse of their volatilities, as measured by their standard deviations of returns.

Value tends to be the driving risk factor that shapes this fund’s holdings. Its value exposure typically falls in line with the large-value Morningstar Category, which should allow it to capture the value premium. Sector-relative momentum scores don’t facilitate strong momentum exposure. But including momentum acts as a risk control to avoid value traps, or stocks with declining prices and eroding fundamentals that may have further to fall. Using momentum as a risk control can also lead to increased turnover and trading costs. The fund’s turnover ratio tends to run higher than its average peer in the large-value category.

Diversification is a strength of this strategy. The portfolio holds fewer stocks compared with the Russell 1000 Value Index, but it’s less concentrated. The fund held around 13% of its portfolio in its top 10 holdings at the end of October 2025, which was about 6 percentage points less than the category index. Inverse-volatility weighting tends to keep concentration lower than portfolios that use market-cap weighting.

The fund started tracking its current index in November 2022, and it has held up well against the Russell 1000 Value Index. It outperformed the category benchmark by 1.2 percentage points, annualized from that date through October 2025.