2 Top-Performing Mid-Cap Growth Funds

Mid-cap growth stocks can be riskier than the largest stocks in the market, but they can also come with bigger growth opportunities. A mid-cap growth fund can offer easy exposure to a diversified array of fast-growing mid-cap stocks. Among the largest names are semiconductor firm SanDisk SNDK, communications and radio infrastructure company Motorola Solutions MSI, and cruise company Royal Caribbean.

To screen for the top-performing funds in this category, we looked for those with the best returns over the last one-, three-, and five-year periods. Both names that passed the screen are

. These funds come with high-conviction Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Silver and Gold.

• Invesco Discovery Mid Cap Growth Fund OEGIX
• PrimeCap Odyssey Aggressive Growth Fund POAGX

Some of these portfolios invest in stocks of all sizes, leading to a mid-cap profile, while others focus on midsize companies. Mid-cap growth portfolios target US firms projected to grow faster than other mid-cap stocks, and which therefore command relatively higher prices. The US mid-cap range represents 20% of the total capitalization of the US equity market. Growth is defined based on fast growth (high growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow) and high valuations (high price ratios and low dividend yields).

Over the past 12 months, the average fund in the category returned 18.62%. On an annualized basis, these funds have climbed 13.69% over the past three years and 2.32% over the past five. Meanwhile, the Morningstar US Market Index has risen 29.64% over the past 12 months, 21.06% per year over the past three years, and 11.66% per year over the past five.

Screening for the Top-Performing Mid-Cap Growth Funds

To find the best mid-cap growth funds, we looked at returns from the past one, three, and five years using Morningstar Direct. We screened for open-end and exchange-traded funds in the top 33% of the category using their lowest-cost primary share classes for those periods. We also filtered for funds with a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze, Silver, or Gold. We excluded funds with assets under $100 million and analyst coverage that was not 100%. This left two investments.

Because the screen was created with the lowest-cost share class for each fund, some may be listed with share classes that are not accessible to individual investors outside of retirement plans, or they may be aimed at institutional investors and require large minimum investments. The individual investor versions of those funds may carry higher fees, reducing returns to shareholders. Medalist Ratings may differ among the share classes of a fund.

Invesco Discovery Mid Cap Growth Fund

• Morningstar Medalist Rating

  : Silver

• : ★★★★

This $6.5 billion fund has gained 35.01% over the past year, while the average fund in its category is up 18.62%. The Invesco fund, launched in February 2013, has climbed 17.86% over the past three years and 5.21% over the past five.

Invesco Discovery Mid Cap Growth’s proven, experienced management team and sound approach make it an appealing option.

This strategy has an impressive history, although it doesn’t look quite as good when measured against its tough-to-beat Russell Midcap Growth Index prospectus benchmark as it does against its mid-growth Morningstar Category peers. Over the trailing 15-year period through May 2025, the 12.8% annualized return of the mutual fund’s Y shares landed behind the index’s 13.5% gain but was significantly ahead of the category average. The story is similar over the trailing 10-year period: The Y shares lagged the index by about 1 percentage point while topping the group norm by about the same amount. A few recent years help explain the shortfalls versus its benchmark. The strategy usually outperforms in downturns, but that didn’t happen in 2022’s dismal market, and the following year its 13.2% gain was barely half the index’s rise. After a strong showing in 2024, the fund again lagged in 2025 through May, owing partly to an underweight position in the index’s top constituent at the time, Palantir Technologies, which has been on an incredible tear.

Despite the recent disappointments, the people in charge of this strategy instill confidence. Manager Ron Zibelli and comanager Justin Livengood have worked together since 2002 along with Ash Shah, Zibelli’s comanager on small-cap focused Invesco Discovery, which has an excellent long-term record. Two of the four other analysts have been with this team for roughly 20 years each.

The team has used a consistent strategy for many years that balances a growth focus with risk controls. Zibelli and Livengood are willing to pay up for especially promising companies, so that the fund’s average valuations tend to be higher than those of its peers. But the managers prefer firms with solid business models and keep individual stock weightings below 3%, which has helped them avoid major blowups.

PrimeCap Odyssey Aggressive Growth Fund

• Morningstar Medalist Rating

  : Gold

• : ★★★★

Over the past year, the PRIMECAP fund rose 43.38%, while the average fund in its category rose 18.62%. The fund, launched in November 2004, has climbed 20.15% over the past three years and 7.20% over the past five.

Primecap Odyssey Aggressive Growth continues to benefit from its outstanding investment team and low fees.

This mid-growth fund is one of six mutual funds overseen by Primecap Management that stands out in many positive ways. The firm is mindful of company valuation, prizes unconventional thinking, and pursues stocks off the beaten path. The firm is also unique for its extreme patience. It often holds stocks for a decade or more, a rare trait that can pay off when it backs firms with competitive moats, rising earnings, or skilled leadership. Top holding Eli Lilly is a case in point. A long-term orientation also works when a company suffers a steep share-price drop, but its troubles are fixable and fleeting.

But patience has been a double-edged sword for Primecap, whose convictions have sometimes hardened into obstinacy, even as investment theses flopped. Corporate executives can prove themselves poor stewards; rivals sometimes erode once-mighty franchises; companies’ sales slide; debt piles up; or a bargain-basement takeover ends the growth story that Primecap was banking on. In these cases, holding firm becomes damaging as the stocks’ prices fall and potential gains elsewhere are foregone.

Mistakes like these explain much of the firm’s lackluster returns over the past five years. It has also faced some stylistic headwinds, with a contrarian bent that has lagged in a market enthralled by momentum. Even so, the firm’s longer-term track record is admirable, helped by its research-focused culture and competitive pricing of its funds. For investors seeking a differentiated approach to growth investing, this fund remains a worthy holding.