Big Growth, Less Risk

Aggressive tech-heavy growth funds got most of the ink and the money in 1999, but after last year's drubbing, it's a good time to look for some of the category's lower-octane fare.

The average big-cap growth fund has more than 40% of its money invested in tech stocks, according to Morningstar. That was great in 1999, when these funds rode the hot sector to a nearly 40% average gain. But last year the category lost more than 16% on average, as a slowing economy and thin-air valuations consequently cooled jittery investors to the sector. So, today the Big Screen is shopping for large-cap growth funds with above-average returns and below-average volatility.

We've screened the category, looking for funds that beat their average peer over the past one- and three-year periods, while also dropping less than their average peer in down months over the past three years, according to Morningstar. Here's a list of the 10 top funds we turned up, ranked by their one-year returns. We've also included their returns in the last three months of 2000, when the average big-cap growth fund lost more than 18%. We're also going to look at these funds' top stock picks, but first let's check out the funds: ...