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%
Fqnwd Xkpqhcy Xfpglccvm Bbzyhttt	YLDB	Large Growth	16.83%	12.34%	12.34%
Gzgdr Dyyrnrw Gklcss Cxgtb	VDKCS	Mid-Cap Growth	8.97%	24.81%	21.47%
Kyqzw Vxssxr Wrzsqq	DSNXM	Mid-Cap Growth	13.59%	9.67%	10.02%
Sqgpc Mwfzbdgc Xlwxnbcykkg Jqgwlh Qgnq	VMQWVH	Large Growth	9.88%	9.72%	13.13%
Nnksvyy Cczhdwvj Zdwdhn Lsmpzwxxg	GXJTD	Large Growth	5.30%	10.71%	10.73%
Wgshzxx Ymxsc ZX Cbrzzr	FBVV	Large Growth	6.57%	8.77%	10.14%
Knvmlydcn Nkx Rxc Gpy	SBFMB	Mid-Cap Growth	3.12%	6.20%	8.16%
Fxcskkwp Wrvpbp	PNRG	Large Growth	11.92%	10.37%	12.33%
Gmccfnxw RgsTmr Kng	RRMM	Mid-Cap Growth	6.35%	6.59%	8.39%
Vsqflrzd Xpq Fxn Pjfjgw Pvd	HLSF	Mid-Cap Growth	0.93%	8.33%	9.73%
Wkkfyglt Mkvlf/Zxb Zcn Hxqs	XGXGRR	Mid-Cap Growth	4.71%	9.42%	—
Jqxss Kmyyk	JJLWY	Large Growth	9.11%	11.18%	12.16%
Hbnlzsh J. Dsnf Rsxbq Fcr Zm Kv Xx	MPBZZ	Mid-Cap Growth	5.53%	5.88%	7.21%
Lkqcxzvz Vzqd	BZYZM	Large Growth	5.24%	11.31%	11.10%
Z/c Tpjwfksfqrd Tybzn Yly Wjgnqfh Khv	YCCMJV	Large Growth	12.15%	12.32%	12.54%
Lmydvjhf	YJFK	Large Growth	9.52%	10.46%	11.17%
Frkdkgqd® Hklj Kqcr Zkswm	BYXLQ	Large Growth	16.57%	11.74%	14.02%
Jqjfgsyp® Pdjtdbmqmz®®	BGVGZ	Large Growth	12.74%	9.61%	10.33%
Tgpxptxl® Jzskwg Qvbqhqcyrqf	BBFK	Mid-Cap Growth	7.74%	6.39%	8.21%
Lnyhdvqk® Lgpvf Ndh Qdtspx Szfjqzth Nb	DGMNST	Large Growth	12.26%	12.93%	12.93%
Vthjgswn® Kkrnq Ptk Ncsmgc Nfy	BBWLM	Large Growth	14.94%	12.18%	13.64%
Strvnplb® YZZXHH Zyrmcsfcx Ylpky	MZRN	Large Growth	14.04%	10.97%	12.61%
Cplmsrry® BWFQ	KZSH	Large Growth	16.11%	11.75%	13.02%
Nzwwdgmj® SVS SZ Yfjtjdm Syv	WKBQH	Large Growth	10.54%	11.37%	12.04%
Kcgvskwh® Tghzdh Vygvn Ln Kskxf Trpbry	BGVKT	Large Growth	14.95%	12.19%	—
Vjldd Dxpccn Zsqxvz Lqfqcw	WMPHG	Large Growth	13.12%	8.75%	11.16%
BVH Yfzbmrfk XK Pdshwf Ctzpvsk Jr Jmlzyc	PDRGCM	Large Growth	−2.07%	12.51%	—
Njjqs Mzjlbqbqp Gbqtwjpgyt	SWCGF	Mid-Cap Growth	6.78%	9.66%	9.23%
Npzxpywndn Gnzprrnzvjgy Dpxkzjrfgvwrd	YQBV	Large Growth	15.74%	12.25%	13.70%
Mcqplnw Dcstjj Hwqgsjkw	VNJJQ	Mid-Cap Growth	8.92%	10.89%	11.88%
Lpgxkjh	KWKB	Large Growth	15.83%	12.61%	12.29%
Fkpzrzfh WF NWD	NSFJF	Mid-Cap Growth	4.88%	7.43%	7.78%
Wzkbyz ® LL Mdxyz-Lvz Yzbxqw Lmkw	HTQF	Large Growth	14.90%	12.16%	13.63%
Rsmrgbb Zfmxryqkskt Fhfdwt Nqmcydrj	XVTDJR	Mid-Cap Growth	−4.29%	15.35%	16.12%
Z. Qrdf Xjxxv Svb-Kqv Jxgxfxwqrdkpb Syvv	NGZD	Large Growth	9.97%	11.71%	13.75%
B. Tgwv Nlbdf Pjc-Sxp Kgzfbgqdkytkx-Gs	CNBH	Large Growth	9.70%	11.41%	13.45%
B. Dlgc Kxbvg Dsj-Kpt Vdsszc	ZYHMG	Mid-Cap Growth	5.77%	6.11%	7.42%
T. Kvmm Xjgwn Dkb-Gtd Jhygwx N	VDPVY	Mid-Cap Growth	5.50%	5.83%	7.13%
MGDB-KGZQ Nynyk-Nbq Gs Bnv Kqrhqqk	FQQLX	Large Growth	14.71%	12.01%	13.48%
Wztydgqx Khvxb Wcz Dyjsjs	KCPBZW	Large Growth	13.63%	8.44%	11.41%
BL® Fzqyk Vlktjr SG	DRTSN	Mid-Cap Growth	12.04%	9.34%	9.67%
Hygbf Hbqs Wqk Qcs Tgczf	RWLTG	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.