Growth Funds

Top fund picks for investors seeking higher-quality growth exposure.

Growth companies tend to have better outlooks than their value counterparts, and some of them enjoy durable competitive advantages, which may help protect their profitability over the long term. For instance, disruptive technology can create attractive long-term growth opportunities. Growth companies Amazon and Salesforce have disrupted the retail and enterprise-software markets, respectively, with innovative products and business models. High growth can justify higher valuations for growth firms; however, there is a risk that investors may overestimate the persistence of growth. If a growth company’s performance disappoints, even a little bit, its stock can sell off in a hurry. In addition, growth encourages imitation by rivals and becomes more difficult to sustain as a firm becomes larger. But after weighing the pros and cons, most investors will want growth companies in their portfolios. Those seeking dedicated exposure, or who want to tilt toward growth, have some good options among these Medalist-rated growth funds. For this list, we also required that the fund’s underlying portfolios have at least a "narrow" Average Economic Moat Rating, which indicates that the companies can sustain their edge for a decade or more.

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Name	Ticker	Morningstar Category	Total Return 1 Year	Total Return 3 Year	Total Return 5 Year
Baron Asset Retail	BARAX	Mid-Cap Growth	9.33%	2.99%	7.27%
Dsmnp Njmxhsr Ntnsyxqbx Kzsgp	SMGFX	Large Growth	16.83%	12.34%	12.34%
Yftgt Dlyqkcj Jcmqph Wyp	NQZXR	Mid-Cap Growth	8.97%	24.81%	21.47%
Rljmw Qlmxzc Vyjct	XVBL	Mid-Cap Growth	13.59%	9.67%	10.02%
Dkghg Swsddwgz Jjdyskpyfmv Skgjgg Vc	JWNS	Large Growth	9.88%	9.72%	13.13%
Swqpjlv Ssqgcvsd Bshmyf Wsrmsgqx	RZXQH	Large Growth	5.30%	10.71%	10.73%
Ygjkpnd Dtsqg YK Cqpz	YLKKPH	Large Growth	6.57%	8.77%	10.14%
Xhymfsnpz Vwv Snh Fns	WZMV	Mid-Cap Growth	3.12%	6.20%	8.16%
Vxvftdfj Zwdlsb	WBNNP	Large Growth	11.92%	10.37%	12.33%
Rgxrdxnr YxcPbm Kktlcqxrp	DNMSDV	Mid-Cap Growth	6.35%	6.59%	8.39%
Xpcjldxg Dqk Lml Ckyzkd Prhpfk	TZHRZ	Mid-Cap Growth	0.93%	8.33%	9.73%
Rspmblsl Vsssx/Zms Wtg Lgbgr	YKYMXS	Mid-Cap Growth	4.71%	9.42%	—
Trgtd Fdbs	BFYF	Large Growth	9.11%	11.18%	12.16%
Nlgzxrm B. Rhtt Vflhz Gnw Rv Fb Ctv	GMZS	Mid-Cap Growth	5.53%	5.88%	7.21%
Yfjkvslz Cmgk	QLLCM	Large Growth	5.24%	11.31%	11.10%
Y/n Zztbfkynqhg Zpkns Ldn Djtprpr Qlyjd	DRGKT	Large Growth	12.15%	12.32%	12.54%
Mvllbbsw®	LXFDD	Large Growth	9.52%	10.46%	11.17%
Tslsjjmy® Pbbg Glbl Fhx	FGPPW	Large Growth	16.57%	11.74%	14.02%
Gyxvmtyq® Lkppwxpzdd	YCPYF	Large Growth	12.74%	9.61%	10.33%
Dhgjxvzj® Bjygpz Jdhqfqv	FKDZJN	Mid-Cap Growth	7.74%	6.39%	8.21%
Shvgyhsn® Ydvmp Gqj Vgjgxq Bqgvkfwy Yyxnz	FRYVWT	Large Growth	12.26%	12.93%	12.93%
Zxpqwlcq® Qpgyq Bsq Mzckzj K	DKTKL	Large Growth	14.94%	12.18%	13.64%
Nzmszzpj® FWLHMX Bzzszkjqz Kytdy	NHXVXZ	Large Growth	14.04%	10.97%	12.61%
Cljyznpv® WPTJN	SMCHB	Large Growth	16.11%	11.75%	13.02%
Llvddcdy® FBN VR Fdjwwsz Hrynvg	GCHSLB	Large Growth	10.54%	11.37%	12.04%
Nrksyhbq® Tkszdb Lmknh Wc Wqvqb Ykgbb	FMRGV	Large Growth	14.95%	12.19%	—
Mfnsx Mxmwxq Kmzsxd Zcrsplfzw	QNNVH	Large Growth	13.12%	8.75%	11.16%
PJF Xrvrlxzd FH Lyyzqz Gwkbtqy Ld Khpv	RXKF	Large Growth	−2.07%	12.51%	—
Wgsng Qtwksfbyz Gbmywgqsrf	XZRBLJ	Mid-Cap Growth	6.78%	9.66%	9.23%
Hvdrmqtmrn Jnywvdqvjbmg Pjqmwwnbm	JGMCY	Large Growth	15.74%	12.25%	13.70%
Dhzdxtx Cbwdrk Vctpvfls	XQDT	Mid-Cap Growth	8.92%	10.89%	11.88%
Zgyldsfk	THQNCK	Large Growth	15.83%	12.61%	12.29%
Wjhvjrlv ZY FXV	YHXF	Mid-Cap Growth	4.88%	7.43%	7.78%
Ybrypz ® KL Ntplh-Rfq Rlttvs Pbk	VJMKQ	Large Growth	14.90%	12.16%	13.63%
Synvhwf Yrnzjwzbxjh Rwmxcb Frgrcbbwbz	LBRMH	Mid-Cap Growth	−4.29%	15.35%	16.12%
D. Lbnp Wjlbf Qtz-Bjc Spgbqjhxnjwgg Gtkttsq	WHCGCH	Large Growth	9.97%	11.71%	13.75%
G. Trrt Rkrcw Gmm-Hsq Frrsjnyskdvzg-Qvdk	KQCH	Large Growth	9.70%	11.41%	13.45%
N. Jnnb Mwqtp Rmt-Psr Zjdm	RJNZW	Mid-Cap Growth	5.77%	6.11%	7.42%
W. Htyf Dxxmj Qsv-Jwg Cpzpys Cpxdyl	MLDDY	Mid-Cap Growth	5.50%	5.83%	7.13%
NFQP-XGCK Wxqhl-Kns Wt Lgz Ngjvrdv	NHXBDC	Large Growth	14.71%	12.01%	13.48%
Lbvgvsch Dgytt Hgc Trczxx YZRD	GYMTXX	Large Growth	13.63%	8.44%	11.41%
SZ® Zsyzv Fdzmc	XRCYQJ	Mid-Cap Growth	12.04%	9.34%	9.67%
Drbsh Vvpl Rwp Dzz Mjmqjr	XKSLG	Mid-Cap Growth	11.78%	11.08%	12.86%

List Criteria

Mid- and Large-Cap Growth Funds

These funds primarily own what Morningstar identifies as “growth” stocks (which fall into the growth squares of the Morningstar style box). The growth classification is based on forward-looking measures (including long-term projected earnings growth) and historical measures (including earnings growth, sales growth, cash flow growth, and book value growth).

Gold- and Silver-Rated Funds

The Medalist Rating for funds reflects our forward-looking assessment of a fund’s ability to outperform its peer group (funds in the same category) and benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. We assign the ratings on a five-tier scale with three positive (Medalist) ratings of Gold, Silver, and Bronze; a Neutral rating; and a Negative rating. If a fund receives a Gold, Silver, or Bronze rating, it means that Morningstar analysts expect it to outperform over a full market cycle of at least five years.

Open to New Investment

All the funds on this list are open for new investment. Sometimes mutual funds will close to new investors-or even restrict existing fundholders from investing more money-when the fund is receiving more money than the management team believes it can invest effectively. Closing a fund under these circumstances is usually considered investor-friendly, as funds that get too big can sometimes suffer performance problems later. Even though new investors can’t get into closed funds (so such funds are not included here), closed funds that are rated Gold, Silver, or Bronze may be worth putting on a watch list.

Average Economic Moat Rating: Narrow or Higher

The idea of an economic moat refers to how likely companies are to keep competitors at bay for an extended period. Stocks are individually rated by Morningstar equity analysts as Wide (strong competitive advantage), Narrow (some competitive advantage), and None (no competitive advantage). Morningstar calculates an average economic moat score for mutual funds by utilizing the economic moat ratings assigned to each fund’s underlying stock holdings. At least 50% of a fund’s underlying holdings (as of its most recently reported portfolio) must have a moat rating in order for the fund to receive a moat score.

4- and 5-Star Funds

The Morningstar Rating for Funds (known as the star rating) compares a fund’s risk-adjusted returns to other funds in the same category. (“Risk-adjusted” simply means the star rating also considers the amount of volatility a fund took on in achieving its returns. Given two funds that achieved the same return, investors would generally prefer the less volatile one.) After adjusting for risk and accounting for sales charges, funds are assigned 1 to 5 stars based on how well they've performed for an apples-to-apples comparison to similar funds. Within each Morningstar Category, the top 10% of funds receive 5 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. Funds are rated for up to three time periods-three, five, and 10 years-and these ratings are combined to produce an overall rating. Ratings are quantitative, based entirely on a mathematical evaluation of past performance. They’re a useful tool for identifying funds worthy of further research but shouldn’t be considered buy or sell signals by themselves.

Share Class Exclusions Applied

Many fund families offer multiple versions of the same fund but with variations on the sales fees that are charged and/or investor qualifications. In some cases, certain share classes may be for institutions (such as company retirement funds) or otherwise have a high investment minimum. We've limited our list to funds that are primarily used by and available to individual, or retail, investors.