These 4 Large-Growth Funds Are Navigating Manager Changes

Succession is always a little tricky at mutual funds. Let’s take a closer look at how some of our highly rated large-growth funds have performed in recent years.

The manager of Fidelity Contrafund FCNTX for the past 35 years, Will Danoff, is retiring at the end of 2026, and his successors are already on board. Although the fund has become enormous ($173 billion) through capital appreciation coupled with inflows, Danoff has continued to generate strong returns. During the trailing five years through July 2026, the fund surpassed 85% of its Morningstar Category peers and handily outpaced the category median on risk-adjusted measures such as the Sharpe ratio.

The fund appears to be in good hands going forward. Asher Anolic and Jason Weiner joined as comanagers in April 2025 with a wealth of growth investing experience, including a successful shared seven-year tenure at category peer Fidelity Capital Appreciation FDCAX. They will run this fund together after Danoff steps down. Steering this huge asset base will no doubt be challenging, but they look to be well-prepared. The fund earns a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze.

The current trio heading up Silver-rated Harbor Capital Appreciation HACAX has the unenviable task of following not one, but two long-tenured managers. Sig Segalas managed the fund from 1990 until his January 2023 death, and his longtime lieutenant Kathleen McCarragher took on an increasingly large role after being named comanager in 2013. She stepped down in February 2026 in advance of her retirement, leaving Blair Boyer, Natasha Kuhlkin (both named to the fund in March 2019), and Owuraka Koney (who joined in July 2025) in charge. Boyer has more than 40 years of investment experience, while Kuhlkin and Koney are earlier in their careers and should thus have longer runways here.

The managers will continue to employ advisor Jennison Associates’ concentrated, high-growth investment approach. This strategy led to strong long-term results under Segalas and McCarragher, but shorter-term results can vary substantially. In the five years ended July 2026, the fund trailed more than half of the large-growth category on total-return and risk-adjusted measures.

Paul Greene has managed Silver-rated T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth TRBCX since October 2021, when Larry Puglia stepped down and retired after a successful 23-year stint at the helm. Greene, who had previously spent two years as an associate manager under Puglia, got off to a rough start with a 39% loss in 2022 that trailed most large-growth peers. He then pledged to better diversify the top-heavy portfolio, and the fund went on to beat most peers in the next three calendar years. This year has been more of a struggle, and the fund trailed the category median over the past five years through June 2026. Investors should continue to expect bursts of volatility.

Two of the three subadvisors running Silver-rated Vanguard U.S. Growth VWUAX have seen veteran managers step down over the past year. Jennison Associates’ changing manager roster is detailed above, as it is the sole subadvisor of Harbor Capital Appreciation. Wellington Management lost a long-tenured manager when Andrew Shilling retired in 2025. However, the firm was well prepared for this transition as the current lead Clark Shields had worked closely with Shilling and was named a comanager on this fund a year earlier. Third subadvisor Baillie Gifford’s five-person manager cohort has not seen any recent changes. Over the trailing five years, the fund, partly owing to a rough showing in 2022’s downturn, trailed 85% of peers on total returns and lagged on a risk-adjusted basis as well.

This article first appeared in the July 2026 issue of Morningstar FundInvestor. Download a complimentary copy of FundInvestor by visiting this website.