The end of the year is when investors take stock of their portfolios. They evaluate how their investments fared and decide on changes. To that end, I thought I’d review how the 10 largest actively managed mutual funds have done.
It’s good news. All but one had double-digit returns, and they all outperformed their peers. Markets got over their worries about tariffs and an artificial intelligence bubble to post nice returns. Overseas funds fared even better as foreign equities outperformed US stocks and the dollar fell, making foreign currencies even more valuable.
Continued strength in the Magnificent Seven (Alphabet GOOGL, Amazon.com AMZN, Apple AAPL, Meta Platforms META, Microsoft MSFT, Nvidia NVDA, and Tesla TSLA) helped large-asset-base funds do quite well. A large asset base forces fund managers to invest in mega-cap stocks whether they love them or not. Alphabet (aka Google) and Nvidia had particularly strong returns.
Here are the 10 biggest active funds by assets under management. All figures for year-to-date 2025 are through Dec. 19.
American Funds Growth Fund of America: $339 Billion
Growth Fund of America AGTHX is having its best year of relative performance since 2016. The fund was up 19.6% through Dec. 19, 2025, landing in the top 23% of the large-growth Morningstar Category. Top holding Nvidia, along with top 10 holdings Broadcom AVGO and Alphabet, provided plenty of fuel. The fund saw $15 billion in net outflows through November, but that isn’t enough to impact on performance.
American Funds Balanced: $270 Billion
American Funds Balanced ABALX had Broadcom as its top holding and different Alphabet share classes taking up two of its top 10 slots. The fund also had a modest equity overweight. That produced a robust 17.5% return and top 4% peer group ranking—a level it hadn’t reached since 2015. The fund’s trailing five-, 10-, and 15-year returns rose to the top quintile.
Pimco Income: $231 Billion
Dan Ivascyn is having a great year. Pimco Income PONAX was up 10.3% for the year to date, good enough for the top 4% in its category. That would be the fund’s best relative performance since 2015. Foreign bonds with currency exposure and high-yield debt have helped push the fund to big gains this year.
American Funds Washington Mutual: $209 Billion
American Funds Washington Mutual’s AWSHX 16.8% gain placed it in the top 30% and top quintile for the past five-, 10-, and 15-year periods. What do you know? This fund’s top holding is also Broadcom, but it also has Apple and RTX RTX, which have enjoyed strong gains. The $11 billion in outflows have not hurt at all. (I own this fund.)
American Funds Investment Company of America: $177 Billion
American Funds Investment Company of America’s AIVSX 19.7% gain placed it in the top 9% of peers, its best showing since 2016. Besides Broadcom, Nvidia, and Alphabet, the fund has also had big wins with British American Tobacco BATMF and GE Aerospace GE. With an active large-blend manager, you hope they can find winners from both the growth and value side, but it doesn’t often work as well as it has at this fund in 2025.
Fidelity Contrafund: $175 Billion
Contrafund FCNTX posted a 21.2% gain, good enough for the top quintile in large growth. Electrical component maker Amphenol helped drive results. A significant underweighting in technology didn’t hold it back as nontech companies like GE Aerospace GE and JPMorgan JPM posted big gains. Manager Will Danoff is about to close the books on his second straight year of top-quintile performance.
American Funds Fundamental Investors: $163 Billion
American Funds Fundamental Investors’ ANCFX 22.9% gain placed it in the top 5% of peers. Besides the usual suspects of Broadcom, Nvidia, and Alphabet, the fund won big with Micron Technology MU, which was up 170% this year. The fund is meant to be more flexible than its Capital Group siblings, and it has put that to good use. The fund’s three- and five-year results are outstanding, though its 10- and 15-year records are in the second quartile.
American Funds New Perspective: $163 Billion
New Perspective’s ANWPX 20.7% gain placed it in the top 13% of the global large-stock growth category. UniCredit UCG, Taiwan Semiconductor TSM, and Broadcom powered returns. Also, being underweight in US equities by quite a bit was a big help. The fund is enjoying its best year of relative performance since 2015.
American Funds Capital World Growth & Income: $142 Billion
American Funds Capital World Growth & Income’s CWGIX 23.4% gain was strong in absolute terms and ranked in the top 15% of global large-stock blend funds. That’s a huge win as the fund’s recent years were middling. Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor, and Alphabet powered returns. It also helped that the fund had 45% in foreign equities compared with 35% for peers.
American Funds Income Fund of America: $139 Billion
American Funds Income Fund of America AMECX, an allocation fund, produced a solid 17.1% return, good enough for the top 24% of its peers. An overweighting in equities helped, as did investments in Broadcom, CVS Health CVS, BAE Systems BA., and Agnico Eagle Mines AEM. This year is the cherry on top of a good run that has put the fund in the top decile for the trailing five, 10, and 15 years.