5 Non-Tech Stocks the Best Fund Managers Have in Their Portfolios Now

Tech stocks—especially those expected to capitalize on advancements in artificial intelligence—have dominated market returns lately. But some of the best fund managers are making big bets on stocks that aren’t part of this boom. We’ve reviewed the portfolios of some of the best large-cap US stock fund managers.

We screened with the following criteria:

• Actively managed funds in the US large-cap blend category
• Funds with one or more share classes with a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold, Silver, or Bronze, determined entirely by our analysts
• Funds that hold 50 or fewer stocks as of their most recently reported portfolios

Eight funds passed the screen, and these five stocks were the non-tech or tech-adjacent names with the largest cumulative weighting in those funds.

5 Non-Tech Stocks That the Best Fund Managers Are Holding in 2025

Market conditions (and of course, prices) may have changed since these managers purchased these stocks. Investors should consider their valuations before making any moves. Over the past year, JPMorgan stock rose 38.5% and Marsh & McLennan fell 13.1%.Meanwhile, the benchmark for large-cap blend funds, the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Index, rose 16.9%.

Here is some commentary and data about each of the stocks.

Mastercard

• Sector: Financial Services
• Industry: Credit Services
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★
• Economic Moat: Wide

Mastercard is the world’s second-largest payment processor, having processed about $10 trillion in transactions in 2024. The company’s stock is up 10.3% over the past 12 months.

The firm holds an estimated 29% of the global market share of credit cards and 24% for debit cards, according to Morningstar analyst Brett Horn. He says a major factor for this market share is the firm’s network effect. “We don’t believe that building a new network with a comparable size and reach is realistic over any foreseeable timeline and view Mastercard’s position within the current global electronic payment infrastructure as essentially unassailable,” Horn writes of the stock. This size is a major reason for its wide economic moat rating.

The company has also been expanding its profitability in other ways. “Mastercard is expanding high-margin value-added services—such as fraud analytics, data insights, and loyalty solutions—that enhance its competitive moat and earnings durability,” writes Allen Bond, head of research at Jensen Investment Management and a portfolio manager for the Bronze-Rated $5.4 billion Jensen Quality Growth Fund JENYX, which has a 4.4% weighting to Mastercard—the fund’s 9th-largest holding.

This focus on additional services creates a deeper relationship that helps retain customers and provides more consistent revenue, helping it better weather ups and downs in consumer spending, according Dan Hanson, manager of the $1.9 billion Neuberger Berman Quality Equity Fund NRAEX. That fund has a 3.8% weighting to Mastercard, its 7th-largest holding. “That’s the attitude that is creating a deeper moat for the business,” Hanson says.

Eli Lilly

• Sector : Healthcare
• Industry: Drug Manufacturers – General
• Morningstar Rating: ★★
• Economic Moat: Wide

Pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly has grown in prominence in recent years due to its drug tirzepatide, its entry into a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists. These drugs, originally developed to treat diabetes, have gained a wider market with approval for weight loss. Marketed as Mounjaro or Zepbound, it made up 37% of its sales in 2024, and is predicted to grow to 50% in 2025 and eventually nearly two-thirds, according to Morningstar analyst Karen Andersen.

According to Kimberlee Millar, business analyst at Jensen Investments, the stock was added to the Jensen Quality Growth Fund for its “leadership in treating obesity and type 2 diabetes.” The fund has a 4.8% weighting to the stock, its 8th-largest holding. Lilly is also a major producer of insulin, which Andersen says is significantly harder for generic pharmaceutical makers to copy, insulating the firm against revenue losses that can plague drugmakers when patents expire.

The stock is down 11.2% over the past year after major gains in 2023 and 2024, and it currently holds a two-star rating, trading at a 26% premium to its fair value estimate.

JPMorgan Chase

• Sector: Financial Services
• Industry: Banks - Diversified
• Morningstar Rating: ★★
• Economic Moat: Wide

“JPMorgan is arguably the dominant bank in the United States,” writes Morningstar analyst Suryansh Sharma. “With leading investment bank, commercial bank, credit card, retail bank, and asset- and wealth-management franchises, it is a force to be reckoned with.”

The financial services giant holds a two-star rating, trading at 27% premium to its fair value estimate. This comes after the stock has risen 36.1% in the past year, the most of the five picks on this list.

“I would look to talent management as being the key,” says Neuberger Berman’s Hanson, whose fund has a 2% weighting to the stock, its 19th-largest holding. “That is what we could call, for lack of a better word, the secret sauce: management which fosters a shared culture of excellence.”

Hanson says JPMorgan has managed to succeed in a variety of areas that other banks have struggled with, such as its asset management business, which has $3.7 trillion in assets under management. JPMorgan’s open-end mutual funds and exchange-traded funds have nearly $800 billion in assets, with a major position in the actively managed ETF space.

Marsh & McLennan

• Sector: Financial Services
• Industry: Insurance Brokers
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★
• Economic Moat: Narrow

Marsh & McLennan has two primary business segments: insurance and reinsurance brokerage and consulting. “Its leading position in the brokerage industry would be difficult to displace, and its sticky customer relationships allow it to benefit from a relatively stable level of insurance transactions, although it does have exposure to the insurance pricing cycle,” writes Morningstar’s Horn. “We view Marsh McLennan as something of a tollbooth business.”

The stock is down 13.9% over the past year, giving it a three-star rating. “After a long period of favorable conditions, Marsh McLennan’s results have come down to earth this year,” writes Horn. He believes the firm’s unusually strong growth was due to a combination of higher interest rates, higher insurance prices, and a rise in its consulting services after a comparative lull.

Stryker

• Sector: Healthcare
• Industry: Medical Devices
• Morningstar Rating: ★★★
• Economic Moat: Wide

A medical device manufacturer, Stryker makes artificial joints and surgical robots, among other products.

Stryker holds a wide economic moat, which comes from the reticence of surgeons to switch suppliers for replacement joints, and is strengthened by its strong sales representative team, according to Morningstar analyst Debbie Wang.

“More than with any other medical device or equipment, orthopedic sales reps play a critical role for the surgeons,” writes Morningstar’s Debbie Wang. She thinks Stryker’s other product lines are a strength. Its major competitor, Zimmer Biomet, is more reliant on large joint reconstruction (products such as artificial hips), and this became a liability during the covid-19 pandemic, as customers put off joint procedures.

The firm’s large stable of patents (more than 5,800, according to Wang) also help it ward off competition from smaller competitors. It has also been gaining market share among surgical robots, according to Jensen’s Bond, who also thinks Stryker’s efficiency puts it in a position to gain from the rise in ambulatory surgery centers. The fund has a 5.7% weighting to the stock, its fourth-largest position.