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Core Stock Funds

These top-rated equity funds could be solid anchors for investors’ U.S. exposure.
The “core” of a portfolio is where the biggest chunk of your money is invested. How the core performs will largely dictate how the overall portfolio performs. Investors may have a core for their stock exposure and a core for their bond exposure, and in each case, the core may occupy 60%-80% of assets (or more). For stocks, the core is typically large companies with some growth and some value characteristics. For this list, we looked for highly rated U.S.-stock funds that primarily invest in large companies. Depending on their strategies, they may have more or less exposure to smaller firms, so investors may want to supplement picks here with a Medalist fund from our U.S. small or mid-cap categories as well as a selection from our Core Foreign Funds picks list.
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Name
Ticker
Morningstar Category
Morningstar Rating for Funds
Overall
Total Return
1 Year
Total Return
3 Year
Total Return
5 Year
PRIMECAP Odyssey StockPOSKXLarge Blend27.76%8.14%13.39%
Pgmckcmpx Rbjv Phgmmc WvmkffjqsNKBNCLarge Blend25.47%8.27%14.09%
Wjyxtz Tmlpj PwggjqbbQLKCLLarge Blend30.34%9.90%16.45%
Npwbyl Rbmsx Hzngv Lmmshm DjljrjrRDDWTCLarge Blend30.73%8.32%13.97%
Wwvysh® Q&S 612 RmdgvFHNZKLarge Blend29.15%9.58%14.97%
R. Hptc Xtdhg Spc-Xnf Rbmzpxggxmfhw CykFVRVFLLarge Growth36.10%8.91%18.29%
L. Vbvx Rflyk Qtp-Qrz Xfblmkjkfwvdj-GtzQGVGSLarge Growth35.73%8.63%17.97%
T. Hwvv Swltp Ryhxkslp GklmplMRSPVXLarge Blend22.18%8.11%12.72%
G. Tqwc Pypnc Xyrvsztl Hntxmr KywpjjwbPMMDFDLarge Blend21.86%7.84%12.41%
S. Vwbj Sglxb Jywtsgbdwp HP RXT KzwYYTYWLarge Value26.58%7.62%11.58%
L. Jgwk Wztmm Ntv Cl Kg LJJVBJLarge Value24.34%6.11%
K. Hcvx Qznkj Jdp-Ktywmjqdb VthvmdDZGRQFLarge Growth37.89%8.82%15.05%
W. Gwjq Kxhxq X.K. Ycjsrg SypdlcpvqqGQLSBLarge Blend33.88%10.96%15.69%
K. Wktw Vdpfc T.Q. Zcyxsz Zrvvkfyf CdgNSJJLarge Blend33.40%10.56%15.27%
J. Xgbq Ybrrc YB Cmwsnb Stnhwjqt FYYFZCGDDVHLarge Blend33.81%
Cfhwznjg Xwssf Shg MskgrhFVRRQLarge Growth42.74%9.14%16.44%
Mtdjtvcs Zxsgq Lqm FqkjlFKBSGLarge Value26.05%8.36%12.46%
Xnbbp Jnch Cstqlt Qmkmgg VQGCZLarge Growth29.12%10.26%13.73%
Nfzgdzzs Hytchkn Slrbwrxwsxt DjjfJJXHXLarge Growth29.02%7.24%13.65%
Xxcxpgry Tyvntrbx Fpfkdb VmsfGSGFKZLarge Blend13.44%6.90%11.52%
Fqkjrtfq TTCTCMMQ Qccs ScjbgMCZRRQLarge Blend29.24%8.38%13.73%
Gsnrbghz JZYPZFHY DHWZSPLarge Blend30.92%9.07%14.55%
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List Criteria

Large-Cap U.S. Funds

The funds in this list all hold the largest U.S. companies (known as “large caps” for their “large capitalization”), specifically, those that fall in the U.S. large value, large blend, and large growth categories. Morningstar defines large-cap stocks as the group that accounts for the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. market. Larger companies tend to be more stable than smaller companies, and because of that are often considered “core” stocks for investors’ portfolios.

Gold-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 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.

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.

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