Best Performing Mutual Funds of the Last 10 Years: A Financial Advisor’s Perspective
Updated as of: September 3, 2026
Mutual funds have long been a staple in portfolios for their ability to deliver diversification, professional management, and tailored exposure to specific sectors or asset classes.
Evaluating long-term performance is essential for identifying funds that demonstrate resilience, consistent returns, and strong management practices. This article highlights the best-performing mutual funds over various lookback periods in the last decade.
To create this list, we analyzed the entire mutual fund universe using the YCharts Fund Screener to find the best-performing US-domiciled equity mutual funds over 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year timeframes. (Leveraged and inverse mutual funds as well as those in the alternative currency strategy and options arbitrage strategy peer groups were excluded to focus on long-term investment vehicles that align with broader financial planning goals)
The following best-performing mutual funds are shown with total return, expense ratio and AUM and metrics to showcase recent trends and shifts. All performance data is standardized to ensure comparability across funds and lookback periods.
Table of Contents
Looking for lists of the best performing ETFs? Check out our analysis on the Best Performing ETFs here.
Best Performing Mutual Funds in the Last Year
These are the top-performing mutual funds over the past year, as of August 31, 2026.
| Symbol | Name | 1 Year Total Returns (Monthly) | Net Expense Ratio | Share Class Assets Under Management | Peer Group Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEMIX | Nomura Emerging Markets Fund Institutional | 174.10% | 1.15% | $6,165,302,172 | Emerging Markets Funds |
| FQEMX | Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series EM | 109.29% | 0.00% | $2,179,446 | Emerging Markets Funds |
| FDCPX | Fidelity Select Tech Hardware Portfolio | 93.97% | 0.67% | $3,913,099,248 | Science & Technology Funds |
| RYSIX | Rydex Electronics Fund Investor | 90.12% | 1.38% | $222,914,753 | Science & Technology Funds |
| FELAX | Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors Fund A | 85.98% | 0.94% | $3,137,826,258 | Science & Technology Funds |
| LCSMX | ClearBridge SMASh Series EM Fund | 85.89% | 0.00% | $1,473,097,482 | Emerging Markets Funds |
| FSELX | Fidelity Select Semiconductors Portfolio | 83.39% | 0.60% | $44,853,417,653 | Science & Technology Funds |
| SLMCX | Columbia Seligman Technology & Info Fd A | 81.45% | 1.14% | $15,221,222,534 | Science & Technology Funds |
| SHGTX | Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund A | 77.59% | 1.25% | $2,499,352,986 | Global Science/Technology Funds |
| RSNYX | Victory Global Energy Transition Fund Y | 76.40% | 1.15% | $497,015,740 | Global Natural Resources Funds |
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Best Performing Mutual Funds in the Last 3 Years
These are the top-performing mutual funds on an annualized basis between September 1, 2023 and August 31, 2026.
| Symbol | Name | 3 Year Total Returns (Monthly) | Annualized 3 Year Total Returns (Monthly) | Net Expense Ratio | Share Class Assets Under Management | Peer Group Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OCMAX | OCM Gold Fund Atlas | 335.71% | 63.33% | 1.63% | $181,910,275 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| FKRCX | Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund A | 320.28% | 61.38% | 0.87% | $1,819,158,168 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| DEMIX | Nomura Emerging Markets Fund Institutional | 310.08% | 60.06% | 1.15% | $6,165,302,172 | Emerging Markets Funds |
| EKWYX | Allspring Precious Metals Fund Inst | 291.79% | 57.65% | 0.78% | $698,824,934 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| MIDSX | Midas Discovery | 290.65% | 57.49% | 3.47% | $41,684,779 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| INIVX | VanEck International Investors Gold Fund A | 287.21% | 57.03% | 1.31% | $679,264,320 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| GLDIX | Gabelli Gold Fund I | 280.41% | 56.11% | 1.19% | $433,923,188 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| USERX | US Global Investors Gold & Precious Metals Fund | 280.37% | 56.10% | 1.63% | $300,888,210 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| BGEIX | American Century Global Gold Fund Investor | 270.65% | 54.76% | 0.66% | $1,605,896,218 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| SGDLX | Sprott Gold Equity Fund Inv | 260.00% | 53.26% | 1.46% | $1,256,062,418 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
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Best Performing Mutual Funds in the Last 5 Years
These are the top-performing mutual funds on an annualized basis between September 1, 2021 and August 31, 2026.
| Symbol | Name | 5 Year Total Returns (Monthly) | Annualized 5 Year Total Returns (Monthly) | Net Expense Ratio | Share Class Assets Under Management | Peer Group Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FSELX | Fidelity Select Semiconductors Portfolio | 341.67% | 34.59% | 0.60% | $44,853,417,653 | Science & Technology Funds |
| FELAX | Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors Fund A | 339.54% | 34.46% | 0.94% | $3,137,826,258 | Science & Technology Funds |
| RSNYX | Victory Global Energy Transition Fund Y | 301.28% | 32.04% | 1.15% | $497,015,740 | Global Natural Resources Funds |
| MLPLX | Invesco SteelPath MLP Alpha Plus Fund A | 291.18% | 31.36% | 3.74% | $216,266,360 | Energy MLP Funds |
| EKWYX | Allspring Precious Metals Fund Inst | 277.57% | 30.44% | 0.78% | $698,824,934 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| RMLPX | Recurrent MLP & Infrastructure Fund I | 253.65% | 28.74% | 1.13% | $1,744,802,581 | Energy MLP Funds |
| INIVX | VanEck International Investors Gold Fund A | 246.36% | 28.21% | 1.31% | $679,264,320 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| GLDIX | Gabelli Gold Fund I | 245.64% | 28.15% | 1.19% | $433,923,188 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
| TRUEX | True Rock Fund | 243.06% | 27.96% | 1.50% | $47,762,950 | Multi-Cap Growth Funds |
| OCMAX | OCM Gold Fund Atlas | 242.25% | 27.90% | 1.63% | $181,910,275 | Precious Metals Equity Funds |
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Best Performing Mutual Funds in the Last 10 Years
These are the top-performing mutual funds on an annualized basis between September 1, 2016 and August 31, 2026.
| Symbol | Name | 10 Year Total Returns (Monthly) | Annualized 10 Year Total Returns (Monthly) | Net Expense Ratio | Share Class Assets Under Management | Peer Group Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FSELX | Fidelity Select Semiconductors Portfolio | 1666.52% | 33.26% | 0.60% | $44,853,417,653 | Science & Technology Funds |
| FELAX | Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors Fund A | 1609.96% | 32.83% | 0.94% | $3,137,826,258 | Science & Technology Funds |
| RYSIX | Rydex Electronics Fund Investor | 1080.30% | 28.00% | 1.38% | $222,914,753 | Science & Technology Funds |
| SLMCX | Columbia Seligman Technology & Info Fd A | 952.03% | 26.53% | 1.14% | $15,221,222,534 | Science & Technology Funds |
| SHGTX | Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund A | 927.29% | 26.23% | 1.25% | $2,499,352,986 | Global Science/Technology Funds |
| FSPTX | Fidelity Select Technology Portfolio | 859.17% | 25.37% | 0.61% | $25,767,303,769 | Science & Technology Funds |
| FDCPX | Fidelity Select Tech Hardware Portfolio | 830.41% | 24.99% | 0.67% | $3,913,099,248 | Science & Technology Funds |
| BPTIX | Baron Partners Fund Institutional | 812.12% | 24.74% | 1.65% | $10,369,414,577 | Multi-Cap Growth Funds |
| VITAX | Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund Admiral | 794.56% | 24.50% | 0.09% | $21,377,510,339 | Science & Technology Funds |
| FCGSX | Fidelity Series Growth Company Fund | 760.58% | 24.02% | 0.00% | $24,427,616,822 | Large-Cap Growth Funds |
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What Was the Growth of $10,000 in the Top Bond Mutual Funds Over the Last 10 Years?
If you invested $10,000 10 years ago into any of the ten best-performing mutual funds over the last 10 years, your balance today would be no less than $86K.
Two of the top three best-performing mutual funds in the last 10 years were semiconductor funds. A $10,000 investment into the Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors Portfolio fund (FSELX) would be worth $176,650 today. Behind the Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors Portfolio fund was the Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors Fund A (FELAX); investing $10,000 into FELAX back in 2016 would’ve turned into $171K, with dividend reinvestment.
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