Top 15 Actively Managed Wealth Creators in the Fund Industry
These active mutual funds and ETFs have generated the most value for shareholders in dollar terms.
This article mentions funds that have an issuer-initiated rating and/or track a Morningstar Index. For full disclosure information, please refer to the specific funds, which are demarcated with a * symbol, listed below.
If you want to know how a fund has performed, total returns are the first place to look. But performance is less meaningful if few shareholders are around to benefit from it.
To identify the funds that have created the most value for shareholders in dollar terms, wealth creation is a better measure. To zero in on this, I ranked Morningstar’s database of actively managed mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, focusing on those that had the biggest increase in asset size over the 10 years ended in 2025 after subtracting total inflows and outflows over the same period. The resulting number reflects the wealth a fund has created from market appreciation in dollars.
My previous article highlighted a broader range of wealth creators, including funds that are passively managed. The industry’s biggest index funds, such as Vanguard Total Stock Market Index
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The Results: 15 Active Funds That Created the Most Wealth
To some extent, this is a chicken-and-egg exercise. By definition, the biggest funds will create or destroy more value in dollar terms. And money tends to flow to the funds that have been successful in the past, so the big generally get bigger.
As the table below illustrates, the 15 funds that created the most wealth are all large, well-established names. And most also ranked among the biggest funds in the industry based on asset size 10 years ago—meaning they were already recognized as dominant players at that point.
Top 15 Actively Managed Wealth Creators Over the Past 10 Years
American Funds Growth Fund of America AGTHX, the top-ranking fund on the list, has created an estimated $314 billion in shareholder value by following a measured, multimanager approach. The fund’s seasoned management team follows a flexible approach that includes traditional growth stocks as well as fallen angels and cyclical firms. In contrast to many of its peers, the fund has also had a decent amount of exposure to non-US firms that also generate significant revenue from the US.
Fidelity Contrafund FCNTX is second on the list, with an estimated $196 billion in shareholder value creation over the past 10 years. Over that period, longtime manager Will Danoff posted annualized returns of 16.85%, compared with 14.82% for its benchmark (the S&P 500). During its glory days in the 1990s, the fund attracted billions of new assets, and the fund’s sheer size makes it tougher to outperform. Even so, the fund still ranked in the top decile of the large-growth category over the trailing five-year period ended in 2025.
Wealth Creator Results by Fund Family
From a fund company perspective, Los Angeles-based Capital Group, parent company of American Funds, dominates the list. The firm ranked as the biggest company running actively managed funds at the beginning of my study, with about $1.2 trillion in assets, and it hasn’t ceded its leadership position since then. As shown in the table below, American Funds has created an estimated $2 trillion in shareholder value over the trailing 10-year period. (This figure doesn’t include the impact of sales commissions, which would reduce the benefit to shareholders.)
All of the group’s funds are actively managed but tend toward the conservative side with broadly diversified portfolios that avoid big bets and rapid-fire trading. In a sense, Capital Group has maintained an edge not just by doing the right things but also by avoiding unforced errors. In contrast to many of its peers, it doesn’t compensate management based on asset growth, but instead ties bonuses to longer-term investment results. It never embraced the star manager system and never introduced funds based on the trend du jour. And in contrast to nearly every other active manager, the group eschews sector funds, which investors often struggle to use effectively in their portfolios.
Top 10 Fund Companies Based on Actively Managed Wealth Creation
Fidelity ranks second on the list, with an estimated $1.9 trillion in shareholder value creation. In some ways, it’s the polar opposite of Capital Group: It not only embraced the star manager culture, but it also helped create it with legendary fund managers like Gerry Tsai and Peter Lynch. The firm is more team-oriented than it used to be but still boasts a competitive, meritocratic culture built on fundamental research and manager autonomy. It has also continued to play to its strengths in growth stocks (including specialized funds focusing on technology, biotech, and other healthcare stocks) while building strong active management capabilities in other areas, such as fixed income.
Vanguard ranks third on the list, showing that it’s not just a passive powerhouse. Funds such as balanced stalwart Vanguard Wellington and a trio of target-date funds rank in the top 15 list. Wellington has succeeded thanks to strong risk management and a veteran management team, while the target-date funds have outperformed thanks to a simple, straightforward approach with ultralow costs.
For the most part, size and value creation go hand in hand; the top 10 fund companies based on fund size have also created the most value in dollar terms. However, some firms have created more value relative to their size than others. Dodge & Cox, for example, ranks just outside of the top 10 based on asset size but a bit higher based on estimated wealth creation.
Wealth Creator Results by Morningstar Category
Looking at the results by Morningstar Category, large growth lands at the top of the list, with an estimated $2.1 trillion in wealth created. That partly reflects its sheer size, which is also at the top of the list for actively managed funds. However, investors in large-growth funds have also fared well because stocks with that investment style dominated the market for most of the 10-year period through 2025. Two other categories with a growth slant—foreign large growth and mid-cap growth—also ranked in the top 15.
Top 10 Morningstar Categories Based on Actively Managed Wealth Creation
Most of the top wealth creators by category also happen to be among the largest categories based on asset size. But there are some nuances. The target-date 2030 and target-date 2035 categories don’t rank among the top 10 biggest categories for active management but still generated significant shareholder wealth. That’s partly because target-date funds offer an all-in-one, automated solution that shareholders tend to buy and hold, allowing them to benefit more from market appreciation over time.
Final Thoughts on Actively Managed Wealth Creators
It’s easier than ever to build a solid, low-cost portfolio exclusively with passively managed options, and investors can live a long and happy life without owning any actively managed funds. Over time, I’ve been shifting more and more of my own portfolio toward the passive side. But even now that the golden age of active management is mostly in the rearview mirror, some active managers have continued to generate significant wealth for shareholders.
The author or authors own shares in one or more securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.
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