Key Takeaways
- Most of the largest active and index stock funds that outperformed their peers had greater exposure to tech.
- The best-performing large active name was the American Funds Fundamental Investors Fund.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust did the best among the largest index funds.
Despite downturns early in the year, the US stock market ended 2025 on a high. Exposure to the technology sector has helped most of the largest actively managed and index stock funds outperform their category peers.
Eight of the 10 largest actively managed stock funds outperformed their large-cap peers. American Funds’ $163 billion Fundamental Investors Fund RFNGX performed the best on both a relative and absolute basis. Its 24.7% 2025 return placed it in the 4th percentile of the large-cap blend category.
The worst performer (also in both relative and absolute terms) was the $119 billion Dodge & Cox Stock Fund DOXGX. Its 13.8% 2025 return put it in the 66th percentile of the large-cap value category.
Only one of the largest index funds underperformed its peers: the $216 billion Vanguard Value ETF VTV. Its 15.3% return put it in the 53rd percentile of the large-cap value category. The best performer was the $407 billion Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ, which returned 20.8%, placing it in the 16th percentile of the large-cap growth category.
Each quarter, we review the short- and long-term performance of the largest funds. Many of them, such as the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, are core holdings in portfolios, especially retirement accounts. This list includes both traditional mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
When evaluating funds, investors should focus on long-term returns across multiple years and market cycles. However, short-term returns can provide valuable information about biases within strategies.
Performance data for this article was based on the lowest-cost share class for each fund. Some funds may be listed with share classes not accessible to individual investors outside retirement plans. The individual investor versions of those funds may carry higher fees, reducing returns to shareholders. For longer-term returns, if a share class was launched more recently than the period mentioned, an older share class was substituted if one exists.
The Largest Active Stock Funds: The Best 2025 Performers
Most of the largest active stock funds performed well, with two landing in the top decile of their categories and another two in the top quintile for the year.
The best-performing fund, both relative to its category and in terms of absolute return, was the American Funds Fundamental Investors Fund, which holds a Silver Medalist Rating. The fund returned 24.7% in 2025, putting it in the 4th percentile of the large-cap blend category. By comparison, its peers averaged 15.5%, while the benchmark Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Index returned 17.7%.
The fund’s semiconductor stock holdings were crucial to its success. Micron Technology MU, currently the 7th-largest holding, rose 240% in 2025, contributing 3.3 points to the fund’s returns, more than any other stock. Chip companies Broadcom AVGO, SK Hynix 000660, and Nvidia NVDA together contributed another 6.6 points. “Tech picks have been especially strong, with bets in Micron Technology, Broadcom, and SK Hynix leading the way,” writes Stephen Welch, senior analyst for Morningstar.
The second-best-performing fund also benefitted from exposure to semiconductor stocks. The $177 billion Investment Company of America Fund RICGX returned 20.9%, placing it in the 8th percentile of the large-cap blend category. The largest contributor was its 6.5% allocation to semiconductor firm Broadcom, its second-largest holding. The stock, which rose 50.7% in 2025 contributed 2.8 percentage points. The other large contributors were GE Aerospace GE and British American Tobacco BATMF, which together contributed another 3 points.
The Largest Active Stock Funds: The Worst 2025 Performers
The two funds that underperformed their peers in the actively managed large cap category were the $121 billion JPMorgan Large-Cap Growth FUND JLGMX and the $119 billion Dodge & Cox Stock Fund DOXGX.
The Dodge & Cox fund had the lowest performance out of all the largest active US stock funds, both relative to its category and in absolute terms. It returned 13.7% for the year, putting it in the 66th percentile of its category. Its peers averaged 14.9% for the year, while the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Broad Value Index returned 18.8%. The fund’s largest detractor was payment processing firm Fiserv FISV, currently its fifth-largest holding with a weighting of 2.9%. The stock, down 67% in 2025, cost the fund 3 percentage points.
The JPMorgan fund returned 14.4%, leaving it in the 65th percentile of the large-cap growth category. Its peers returned an average of 16.1%, while the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Broad Growth Index returned 16.7%. One reason for its underperformance was its comparative underweighting of technology; it averaged 40.7%, compared with the benchmark’s average 47.6%. This cost the fund 0.8 percentage points in terms of return.
The Largest Stock Index Funds: The Best 2025 Performers
Nine of the 10 largest index funds beat their category peers, although none landed in the top decile and just one made it into the top quintile.
The best performer, both relative to its peers and in absolute returns, was Invesco QQQ Trust, which returned 20.8%, putting it in the 16th percentile of the large-cap growth category. The fund, which just underwent structural changes, carries a Neutral Medalist Rating—the only one of these funds with a rating lower than Silver. The fund tracks a market-cap-weighted index of the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq. It’s been buoyed by the continued strength of AI-related tech and tech-adjacent firms.
“Though not a tech strategy by design, pulling exclusively from the tech-laden Nasdaq makes this index look like one,” writes Ryan Jackson, senior analyst for Morningstar. “Half the portfolio consisted of tech stocks entering April 2025. The communications and consumer cyclical sectors, both stocked with tech-adjacent companies, nearly combined for another 30% of assets.”
The second-best-performing fund was the $353 billion Vanguard Growth ETF VUG. It returned 19.4%, putting it in the 23rd percentile of the large-cap growth category. “Long term, investors should expect periods of outperformance when the largest stocks lead the charge,” writes Morningstar analyst Zachary Evens.
The Largest Stock Index Funds: The Worst 2025 Performers
The $216 billion Vanguard Value ETF was the only one of the largest US stock index funds to underperform its peers. Its 15.3% 2025 return put it in the 53rd percentile of the large-cap value category.
The fund with the lowest absolute returns was the $163 billion Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund VSCPX, which returned 8.9%, landing it in the 44th percentile of the small-cap blend category. Funds in the category averaged 7.9%, while the Morningstar US Small Cap Index returned 12.2%.
Long-Term Performance of the Largest Active Stock Funds
Over the past three years, eight of the 10 largest actively managed stock funds outperformed their categories. The best, relative to its peers, was the Investment Company of America Fund, with its 25% annualized performance over that period putting it in the 7th percentile of its category. In second place was the Fundamental Investors fund, which returned 24.8% a year, putting it in the 8th percentile of the large-cap blend category.
The worst performer over the past three years was the $97 billion AMCAP Fund RAFGX, which returned 23.6% a year, knocking it into the 74th percentile of the large-cap growth category.
The Long-Term Performance of the Largest Stock Index Funds
All but one of these funds outperformed their peers over the past three years. The best, both in terms of absolute performance and relative to its category, was the Invesco QQQ Trust, which had an annualized return of 32.9%, placing it in the 18th percentile of the large-cap growth category.
The one fund to underperform was the Vanguard Value Index Fund, which returned 13.5% a year, pushing it into the 55th percentile of the large-cap value category.