If you're evaluating mutual funds for your investment portfolio or retirement account, this list highlights the best growth stock funds to consider now, based on each fund outperforming the S&P 500 over the past one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods.
A growth fund invests in companies that are expected to increase revenue or earnings at an above-average rate. Investors are attracted to growth funds because they can offer better returns over time. However, these funds also may experience greater volatility because of the stocks they invest in. Growth companies typically invest a significant amount of their cash flow in their business, either through new facilities, mergers, acquisitions, R&D or some combination.
Shaded cells in the table below indicate the five best-of-the-best funds based on 10-year performance. Of 474 growth stock funds at least 10 years old, seven of them, or 1%, won awards.
For more details, read about how the best mutual funds deliver benchmark-beating returns, and see the full 2024 list of IBD's Best Mutual Funds in every category, including bond funds, diversified stock funds, blend and index funds, and breakouts of large-cap, midcap and small-cap funds.
All returns are as of Dec. 31, 2023.
Best Growth Stock Funds
| Fund | Symbol | 1-year total return | 3-year average annual return | 5-year average annual return | 10-year average annual return | Morningstar category | Annual report net expense ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark: S&P 500 | 26.29% | 10% | 15.69% | 12.03% | |||
| Virtus KAR Small-Cap Core I * | PKSFX | 32.38 | 11.96 | 19.01 | 14.84 | US Fund Mid-Cap Growth | 1% |
| Federated Hermes MDT Large Cap Growth IS | QILGX | 39.62 | 11.09 | 20.14 | 13.92 | US Fund Large Growth | 0.74 |
| JPMorgan U.S. GARP Equity I | JPGSX | 42.03 | 10.45 | 17.32 | 13.52 | US Fund Large Growth | 0.59 |
| Elfun Trusts | ELFNX | 34.49 | 10.23 | 17.82 | 12.89 | US Fund Large Growth | 0.18 |
| Needham Aggressive Growth Retail | NEAGX | 37.65 | 11.12 | 24.49 | 12.78 | US Fund Small Growth | 1.85 |
| Cantor Growth Equity A | FICGX | 28.68 | 10.41 | 16.46 | 12.62 | US Fund Large Growth | 1.17 |
| BNY Mellon Large Cap Securities Inc | DREVX | 31.06 | 11.05 | 17.1 | 12.09 | US Fund Large Growth | 0.71 |
Sources: IBD, Morningstar Direct
* Fund is closed to new investors
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