When evaluating retirement funds, many investors begin by looking at annualized trailing returns. This metric measures the average yearly return a fund generated over a given period after accounting for compounding. While useful, it tells only part of the story.
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A fund that returned 15% annually may not necessarily have been a better investment than one that returned 12% if it required substantially more risk to achieve those gains. That is where risk-adjusted measures of return come in. For example, the Sharpe ratio evaluates how much excess return a fund generated for each unit of volatility it experienced.
Neither annualized returns nor risk-adjusted metrics can predict future performance though. Markets evolve, investment styles rotate in and out of favor, and even highly rated funds can underperform.
For retirement investors, however, risk-adjusted returns often deserve greater emphasis because high volatility increases the likelihood that investors panic and sell during market downturns, turning temporary declines into permanent losses.
That does not mean annualized trailing returns should be ignored entirely. They remain a useful starting point for research because they provide context about which market environments and investment styles have driven a fund’s historical success.
They can also prompt investors to evaluate whether those conditions are likely to persist and whether current valuations remain reasonable. After all, momentum is a well-documented investment factor, and strong past performance can sometimes persist for longer than many investors expect.
With those considerations in mind, here are eight of the top-performing Fidelity mutual funds, ranked in ascending order based on their trailing 10-year annualized total return as of May 2026:
| Fund | 10-year annualized total return | Expense Ratio |
| Fidelity Focused Stock Fund (ticker: FTQGX) | 19.0% | 0.69% |
| Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Fund (FNCMX) | 19.5% | 0.29% |
| Fidelity Trend Fund (FTRNX) | 19.7% | 0.74% |
| Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund (FBGRX) | 21.7% | 0.61% |
| Fidelity OTC Portfolio (FOCPX) | 22.1% | 0.73% |
| Fidelity Select Tech Hardware Portfolio (FDCPX) | 26.4% | 0.67% |
| Fidelity Select Technology Portfolio (FSPTX) | 26.7% | 0.61% |
| Fidelity Select Semiconductors Portfolio (FSELX) | 36.8% | 0.60% |
Fidelity Focused Stock Fund (FTQGX)
“Dumping money into the winners of the last decade means you’re deliberately buying what is now expensive compared to the rest of the market, which bodes poorly for expected returns,” says Allen Mueller, founder and director of financial planning at 7 Saturdays Financial. Paying too high a price for a company’s earnings can backfire, because even strong results may disappoint lofty expectations.
That concentration risk is evident in FTQGX, which holds just 39 stocks, with its top 10 positions accounting for 55.8% of assets. Despite this, FTQGX has continued to outperform. Recent manager commentary highlighted Western Digital Corp. (WDC) as a significant contributor to returns, illustrating one advantage of active management: the ability to make discretionary overweights.
10-year annualized total return: 19%
Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Fund (FNCMX)
The Nasdaq-100 is viewed as the S&P 500’s rival, but it follows a very different methodology. Rather than selecting the largest U.S. companies across all sectors, it includes the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange, resulting in a portfolio heavily tilted toward large-cap growth and technology stocks. Over the last decade, the Nasdaq-100 has outperformed the S&P 500.
FNCMX, however, tracks the broader Nasdaq composite index, expanding its opportunity set to roughly 3,000 Nasdaq-listed companies while also including financial stocks, which make up about 3% of the portfolio. Because the fund is passively managed, it carries a relatively modest 0.29% expense ratio and a low annual portfolio turnover rate of just 4%, which limits capital gains distributions.
10-year annualized total return: 19.5%
Fidelity Trend Fund (FTRNX)
Momentum is the tendency for stocks that have recently outperformed to continue outperforming for a period of time. When that momentum becomes sustained, it can develop into a longer-lasting trend, often reinforced by investor psychology as herding behavior attracts additional buyers even as valuations become increasingly expensive. Trends can be observed across styles like growth and sectors like tech.
FTRNX seeks to capitalize on these factors and has outperformed the Russell 1000 Growth Index over the one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods despite charging a relatively high 0.74% expense ratio. The fund has leaned heavily into technology, with the sector accounting for roughly 46% of its 135 holdings. However, its sizable 60% portfolio turnover rate increases the risk of year-end capital gains distributions.
10-year annualized total return: 19.7%
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund (FBGRX)
“Growth stocks are those that are growing or are expected to grow earnings at an above-average rate, for which investors are willing to pay a premium,” says Daniel Dusina, chief investment officer at Blue Chip Partners, a wealth management firm. “The last 10 years, which consisted of ultra-low interest rates and a relatively stable domestic economy, aligned well for growth stocks.”
FBGRX seeks to invest in “well-known, well-established and well-capitalized” companies. In practice, that has resulted in a substantial technology tilt, with the sector accounting for 53.7% of assets and the fund’s top 10 holdings representing 59% of the portfolio despite actually owning 406 stocks. The strategy also carries a relatively high 0.61% expense ratio and a tax-inefficient 26% annual turnover rate.
10-year annualized total return: 21.7%
[Read: 9 Best Growth Stocks for the Next 10 Years]
Fidelity OTC Portfolio (FOCPX)
One advantage of active management is the flexibility to move beyond a benchmark. Some managers stay close to their benchmark, a practice often referred to as “closet indexing,” but others make meaningful overweight positions or invest in securities that passive funds cannot own. FOCPX falls into the latter category. The fund charges a 0.73% expense ratio and has a 55% turnover rate.
FOCPX primarily invests in Nasdaq-listed companies and generally maintains a technology weighting above 25% of the portfolio. However, it can also invest in over-the-counter securities, foreign companies and select private businesses. Notably, FOCPX held an allocation to Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) before the company went public, illustrating the additional discretion active managers can have.
10-year annualized total return: 22.1%
Fidelity Select Tech Hardware Portfolio (FDCPX)
Artificial intelligence has disrupted parts of the technology industry by making some software products easier to replicate. Hardware companies, however, have been insulated because AI still depends on physical infrastructure such as networking equipment and servers. Heavy AI capital spending has helped hardware manufacturers gain market share and boost earnings growth.
Investors can target this segment through FDCPX. Ironically, several technology companies in this fund that struggled after the dot-com bubble — including Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL) — have enjoyed a resurgence, as demand for AI servers, networking equipment and data center infrastructure has surged. FDCPX charges a 0.67% expense ratio and has a 36% turnover rate.
10-year annualized total return: 26.4%
Fidelity Select Technology Portfolio (FSPTX)
“Overall, growth and information technology have come to dominate the U.S. market over the trailing 10-year period,” Dusina says. “Funds with high exposure to tech heavyweights such as Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) were rewarded with market-leading returns.” All three of these Magnificent Seven stocks sit in the top 10 holdings of FSPTX, with Nvidia the largest at a 22.5% weighting.
Some notable omissions and underweights, however, include Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, GOOG), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Tesla Inc. (TSLA). The reason is that the Global Industry Classification Standard classifies Meta and Alphabet as communication services, while Amazon and Tesla fall under consumer discretionary. FSPTX charges a 0.61% expense ratio.
10-year annualized total return: 26.7%
Fidelity Select Semiconductors Portfolio (FSELX)
Semiconductors have become one of the biggest bottlenecks in AI development. Leadership has rotated, beginning with graphics processing units used to train AI models, followed by semiconductor foundries and extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment needed to manufacture cutting-edge chips, and more recently high-bandwidth DRAM and NAND memory for data storage.
FSELX has captured that entire semiconductor ecosystem’s growth, making it Fidelity’s best-performing fund over the past decade. Nvidia is its largest holding, at 22.1% of assets, followed by Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), at 13%. However, the fund currently carries substantial concentration risk, with its top 10 positions accounting for 76.5% of the portfolio despite holding 70 stocks. FSELX charges a 0.6% expense ratio.
10-year annualized total return: 36.8%
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8 Top-Performing Fidelity Funds for Retirement originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/01/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
