They Did it Again! Eight Funds Beat Their Benchmarks

In the coming year, Johnson says managers have been given more latitude in investments -- so, for instance, "you have U.S. equity managers taking advantage of global themes." She says companies like Coca-Cola(KO Quote - Cramer on KO - Stock Picks) and Schlumberger(SLB Quote - Cramer on SLB - Stock Picks) "will be able to take advantage of trends" such as the movement toward a more-global investment strategy.

American Funds Fundamental Investors counts Suncor Energy(SU Quote - Cramer on SU - Stock Picks) and Nokia(NOK Quote - Cramer on NOK - Stock Picks) as its top holdings, according to its Web site.

Representatives for Hartford Capital Appreciation HLS (top holdings for which include Google(GOOG Quote - Cramer on GOOG - Stock Picks) and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO Quote - Cramer on RIO - Stock Picks), and Target Growth Allocation (which counts AT&T(T Quote - Cramer on T - Stock Picks), Microsoft(MSFT Quote - Cramer on MSFT - Stock Picks) and ExxonMobil(XOM Quote - Cramer on XOM - Stock Picks) among its biggest holdings) didn't provide comment.

The large-growth funds were (AMAGX Quote - Cramer on AMAGX - Stock Picks)Amana Growth, which returned 12.2%, and (NEFSX Quote - Cramer on NEFSX - Stock Picks)Natixis U.S. Dividend, which posted a return of 13.7%. These both compared with the Russell 1000 Growth index, which gained 11.8%.

The Natixis fund came as a surprise because it didn't make the eight-year-streak list last year; it was listed as a mid-cap fund, but the holdings changed enough in 2007 that it was reclassified into large-growth, and had surpassed its new benchmark for the nine straight years.

Bob Krantz of Natixis says the fund is designed to offer investors a single, diversified investment vehicle. It's divided into four segments -- a large-cap growth piece run by BlackRock, a large-cap value segment run by Harris Associates, and mid-cap growth and small- to mid-cap core segments run by Loomis Sayles.

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