Best Mutual Funds Of 2026

Top Mutual Funds For April 2026 

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Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX)

Best mutual fund for large-cap growth

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX)

Inception year

1987

Expense ratio

0.61%

10-year return

19.26%

1987

0.61%

19.26%

Editor's Take

Launched in December 1987, this fund is an actively managed large-cap growth fund that invests at least 80% of its assets in blue-chip companies. These are big companies that you’ve probably heard of before, such as Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Amazon (AMZN), to name a few.

The fund seeks to invest in companies that have “above-average growth potential.” FBGRX is weighted over 40% in the information technology sector. Over the life of the fund, FBGRX has beaten its primary benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth, which measures large-cap growth in the U.S. market.

Fidelity Growth Company Fund (FDGRX)

Best mutual fund for stable fund management

Fidelity Growth Company Fund (FDGRX)

Inception year

1983

Expense ratio

0.69%

10-year return

21.09%

1983

0.69%

21.09%

Editor's Take

The Fidelity Growth Company Fund (FDGRX) is another Fidelity fund minted in the 1980s with a focus on large growth companies. Its top 10 holdings look very similar to FBGRX. But the fund comes at an even stronger weight in technology.

If you’re looking for stability in management, FDGRX has that covered. The primary manager, Steven Wymer, has been leading the fund’s management since the late 1990s.

Fidelity Mega Cap Stock Fund (FGRTX)

Best mutual fund for mega-cap stocks

Fidelity Mega Cap Stock Fund (FGRTX)

Inception year

1998

Expense ratio

0.58%

10-year return

15.52%

1998

0.58%

15.52%

Editor's Take

Fidelity Mega Cap Stock Fund (FGRTX), like its name suggests, focuses on at least 80% of its portfolio holdings in mega-cap companies with capitalizations like those in the Russell Top 200 or S&P 100. The S&P 100 is a subset of the S&P 500 with stocks that tend to be the largest companies in the S&P 500. To run with these elite companies, the smallest market cap in this league is a cool $40 billion.

Compared to the other Fidelity picks on this list, FGRTX has a lower exposure to tech stocks. Information technology represents less than 30% of this fund’s portfolio. FGRTX also has over 10% exposure to non-U.S. equities.

Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX)

Best mutual fund for S&P 500 exposure

Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX)

Inception year

2000

Expense ratio

0.04%

10-year return

14.13%

2000

0.04%

14.13%

Editor's Take

No mutual fund list is complete without a nod to the house that John “Jack” Bogle built: Vanguard. The Vanguard 500 Index Fund is a “cheap as chips” fund, with a 0.04% net expense ratio. Most comparable funds to VFIAX, as Vanguard advertises, are around 0.74%. That means for every $10,000 that you invest, expect at least $74 to chip away from your returns.

The fund also does exactly what you hope a passive index fund does: It matches the benchmark returns. The fund is a full replication of the S&P 500, holding the same capitalization weightings. Over time, Vanguard has perfected the art of reducing tracking areas to a near complete match.

Dodge & Cox Stock Fund (DODGX)

Best mutual fund for growth and income

Dodge & Cox Stock Fund (DODGX)

Inception year

1965

Expense ratio

0.51%

10-year return

12.69%

1965

0.51%

12.69%

Editor's Take

An oldie but a goodie, the Dodge & Cox Income Fund was launched in January 1965. This fund is all about long-term growth and income. The fund invests more than 10% of equities to non-U.S. equities that aren’t in the S&P 500.

With a $2,500 minimum initial investment, it isn’t too pricey for its actively managed exposure to well-established companies. For IRA investors, the minimum investment drops to $1,000.

Noteworthy, in 2022, a terrible year for the markets, DODGX lost less than the S&P 500, at –7% versus –18%, respectively. The expense ratio of 0.51% is a bargain compared to most actively managed funds, which typically run about 0.60% on average, according to Morningstar’s data.

Elfun Trusts (ELFNX)

Best mutual fund for U.S. growth companies

Elfun Trusts (ELFNX)

Inception year

1935

Expense ratio

0.17%

10-year return

15.23%

1935

0.17%

15.23%

Editor's Take

Established during the Great Depression, this fund was created by the once iconic blue-chip company General Electric (GE) and formerly managed by GE Asset Management.

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) acquired Elfun Trusts in 2016, and the fund has been stewarded by William Sandow and Chris Sierakowski since August 2019. ELFNX isn’t an income-focused fund. Rather, ELFNX bases its selection on companies with perceived “above average” growth rates, with almost the entire portfolio based in U.S. equities.

The fund tilts toward its top 10 holdings, which accounts for around half of the portfolio allocation. Top holdings include big names like Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple.

T. Rowe Price Equity Index 500 (PREIX)

Best mutual fund for IRAs

T. Rowe Price Equity Index 500 (PREIX)

Inception year

1990

Expense ratio

0.18%

10-year return

13.94%

1990

0.18%

13.94%

Editor's Take

PREIX comes with a $2,500 investment account minimum, but recurring purchases are significantly cheaper at $100 increments. The entry point to invest in this fund, if you’re using an individual retirement account (IRA), is lower at $1,000.

As part of its prospectus, PREIX invests 80% of its assets in stocks that are included in the S&P 500. “The fund uses a full replication strategy, which involves investing substantially all of its assets in all of the stocks in the index in proportion to each stock’s weighting in the index,” according to T. Rowe Price.

Schwab Fundamental US Large Company Index (SFLNX)

Best mutual fund for passive investing

Schwab Fundamental US Large Company Index (SFLNX)

Inception year

2007

Expense ratio

0.25%

10-year return

13.29%

2007

0.25%

13.29%

Editor's Take

The goal of the Schwab Fundamental US Large Company Index is to follow the stocks included in the RAFI Fundamental High Liquidity US Large Index. That’s an index series owned by RAFI Indices. The index is calculated by weighting large-cap U.S. companies that meet certain fundamental measures.

The recipe for the RAFI Fundamental High Liquidity US Large Index appears to be working. Between 2015 and 2024, SFLNX has only had three down years. Among those three down years, the losses were never greater than 7.3%. SFLNX also ushered in its highest return in 2021, at nearly 32%.

Methodology

To identify the best mutual funds, we screened thousands of mutual funds available on U.S. markets by the following criteria.

Large-cap category. The funds selected for Forbes Advisors’ best mutual funds list are all U.S.-focused, large-cap funds that fall under the category of large-cap growth, large-cap value or large-cap blend. Large-cap companies tend to be more established, with generally stronger financials and lower risk.

Expense ratio of 0.66% or lower. Almost all mutual funds come with an expense ratio. Higher cost funds are typically actively managed funds, and these fees can eat into your investment returns. To keep expense ratios from chipping away at your returns, we selected funds with a net expense ratio of 0.65% or lower. As a point of reference, the average expense ratio was 0.59% among actively managed funds, according to Morningstar.

Morningstar rating of “four stars” or higher. Morningstar awards a star rating to funds based on how well they rank against their peers in terms of performance. A five-star is a top performing mutual fund in the top 10% of funds in its respective category, and a four-star fund is in the next 22.5%.

Minimum initial investment. We discarded any whose minimum initial investment exceeds $3,000. For that reason, funds that are more aimed at investors with high net worth or institutional investing are excluded.

No-load mutual funds. These are funds that don’t charge any type of sales fund. You won’t be paying a sales commission if you buy or sell these types of shares.

10-year performance. All the funds on this list held a positive 10-year annual return, as of late 2025. We applied this screen for identifying top performing mutual funds, although past performance isn’t always a guarantee of future performance, which is why other metrics for screening are important.

What Is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is a type of investment, like exchange-traded funds (ETFs). So, what do mutual funds offer investors? Well, instead of just buying one stock that could cost $500, perhaps you can gain exposure to hundreds of stocks using that money to buy one fund.

Example: With the T Rowe Price Equity Index 500 (PREIX), you would expect to get exposure to hundreds of large-cap equities by investing in that single mutual fund. In this case, we’re looking at a basket of around 500 equities that you would have invested in as opposed to purchasing just one single stock.

Another important thing to note about mutual funds, as well as with ETFs, is that you don’t get to choose the equities that are in the portfolio.

The equities for mutual funds either follow an index, which is known as passive management, or are actively managed. If the pool of equities is actively managed, then fund managers are actively buying and selling the underlying assets with a particular goal as opposed to following the underlying assets of a particular benchmark, such as the S&P 500 or the Russell 1000.

How Do Mutual Funds Work?

Shares of mutual funds trade on stock exchanges like stocks, but they operate a little differently. For one, mutual funds only trade once a day at the end of market close, as opposed to ETFs that trade throughout the market day. Another difference between stocks and mutual funds is that they’re not exchanged between investors. You can only buy and sell them through the fund manager.

At the end of each trading day, the fund manager calculates the net asset value (NAV) of the equities in the fund. They then sell or redeem shares at this price. For investors, this means that you won’t know the exact price you’ll pay or receive a share until after the market closes.

Mutual Fund Fees

Mutual fund managers pass on the costs of operating the fund to investors via various fees and expenses.

Funds may charge a variety of different fees, so you need to be aware of the different ways you can be charged. You can see what fees a given mutual fund charges in the fund’s prospectus under the shareholder fees section. Fees may include:

• Expense ratio. Almost all mutual funds, apart from zero-expense ones, will have an expense ratio. The expense ratio tends to be higher for actively managed funds compared to passive ones.
• Sales load. A sales commission is paid to brokers for selling shares of the fund. These can be charged when you purchase shares as front-end sales loads or when you sell your shares as back-end sales loads. You’ll want to screen for “no-load mutual funds” to avoid these types of fees.
• 12b-1 fees. Fees deducted from fund assets to pay for marketing and distribution expenses. 
• Redemption fees. This is deducted from your proceeds when you sell shares of your fund.
• Exchange fees. Charged when you exchange shares of one mutual fund for another fund in the same group.
• Purchase fees. A type of fee charged when you purchase a mutual fund.

You’ll want to minimize the fees that you pay, since they cut into returns. Even small fees can stack up and eat away at long-term returns, thanks to the power of compounding.

Mutual Fund Taxes

You will likely pay taxes on mutual fund distributions if you own funds in a taxable brokerage account. If you sell shares at a profit, then you’ll report the transaction on your tax return. This happens, too, if you only move money between mutual funds.

Many mutual funds pay distributions at the end of the year. When that happens, you’ll receive an IRS Form 1099-DIV. A tax form that details the distributions that were paid to you in that calendar year.

How much will you pay? That depends on the type of distribution. For example, profits from selling a mutual fund that you held for over a year are taxed more favorably with capital gains than funds held for a year or less. Funds held for a year or less are taxed as ordinary income.

An exception to the tax rules is a qualified account, like a traditional IRA. This type of retirement account is only taxed when you withdraw funds from the account.

The Different Types of Mutual Funds

Mutual funds can be classified based on the types of investments they hold:

• Stock mutual funds. This type of mutual fund owns shares of stock in public companies. Equity fund investors generally want more appreciation than income-focused assets.
• Bond mutual funds. These are also called fixed-income funds. This type of mutual fund owns corporate or municipal bonds and/or Treasurys, to name a couple of examples.
• Balanced funds. Referred to as blended funds, these mutual funds invest in a balance of stocks and bonds.
• Money market mutual funds. These mutual funds tend to offer yields like the APYs of cash management accounts and are for investors who are looking to preserve the value of their cash.
• Target date funds. These funds are designed for retirement investors and generally have a target year when the investor plans to retire. Target date funds hold a mix of stocks, bonds and other securities. The allocation starts off aggressive and shifts to more conservative as the target date approaches.

How To Invest in Mutual Funds

You can invest in mutual funds through an online broker similar to buying stocks. Typically, most investors buy mutual funds with their 401(k) account or IRA.

The first step is to open an account with a brokerage like Fidelity or Charles Schwab. And from there you’ll need to decide the investment purpose of the mutual fund. For instance, is it for retirement? Are you purchasing this mutual fund for an IRA or 401(k)? Once you have that down, then you’ll need to choose which mutual funds match your investment goals.

How To Choose the Best Mutual Funds

Choosing a mutual fund involves multiple considerations. That’s why the Forbes Advisor list for the best mutual funds to invest involves several screens. Common screens for choosing mutual funds include:

• Performance
• Assets under management (AUM)
• Type of management, whether active or passive
• Equity exposure (e.g. sectors, or U.S equities, etc.)
• Market cap of equities
• Seeking yield or share appreciation
• Turnover rate

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)