Winners and Losers in U.S. Equity Funds, 2015

Domestic-equity mutual funds, and the U.S. stock market in general, have taken investors on another wild ride in 2015. After eking out modest gains in the year’s first half, the S&P 500 fell more than 6% in the third quarter before recovering some of that in the fourth quarter. A continuing slump in energy prices, anticipation of rising interest rates, and weakness in the Chinese economy have been among the factors contributing to the market’s volatility this year.

As of Dec. 15, the S&P 500 was basically flat for the year (technically up 0.21%), but that number masks dramatic differences in how various sectors of the market have performed. A few big growth names such as

This divergence is reflected in the performance of fund categories. Of the nine Morningstar Categories of the Morningstar Style Box, only large growth has a positive year-to-date return, about 2% as of Dec. 15, with mid-cap growth a distant second. Small caps and value stocks have taken it on the chin in 2015, with the small-value category losing an average of 8.14%. Among sector funds, healthcare and technology funds have performed the best in 2015, each gaining about 4% on average for the year to date as of Dec. 15. The equity energy and energy limited partnership categories, on the other hand, have suffered average losses of 28% and 41% over the same period. Equity precious-metals and natural-resources funds have lost more than 20% on average, while utilities funds have lost an average of 14%.

With all this in mind, here's a closer look at some of the winners and losers among diversified U.S. equity funds in 2015. (All return figures below are as of Dec. 15.) As usual, a fund's short-term performance shouldn't determine whether you buy or sell it; for that, it is best to look at a fund's Morningstar Analyst Rating.

Winner: Funds With FANGs

For most of 2015, four of the hottest stocks around were

FANG

to describe these four Internet behemoths. That acronym hasn’t worked so well since Google underwent a corporate reorganization and renamed itself

For example,

Loser: Funds With a Lot of Energy Exposure

Given the big recent losses suffered by energy stocks, it is no surprise that funds with heavy exposure to that sector have tended to do poorly in 2015. One of the most prominent examples is

Winner: Dividend-Focused, Consumer-Heavy Funds

Given the market volatility and continuing low interest rates, investors have been searching for stability and yield, and dividend-paying stocks typically fit that bill well. Energy names have usually been among the most prominent dividend-payers, which has hurt some dividend-oriented funds this year. But others that put more emphasis on consumer staples have done very well in 2015. For example,

Loser: Funds That Hold Smaller Stocks

Given the underperformance of small caps and the primacy of big names in 2015, it makes sense that funds holding stocks on the smaller end of the market-cap spectrum have tended to struggle. Two of the more prominent micro-cap funds, small-blend

Winner: Small-Value Funds With Plenty of Financials

Small-value funds had a tough time this year, but those that held up best tended to have significant holdings in financial stocks, ranging from small community banks to niche insurers and asset managers.

Loser: Concentrated Funds With Bad Bets

A highly concentrated portfolio is a double-edged sword; a few great picks can give a fund a big boost, but a few bad ones can send short-term returns into the dumper. While a few highly concentrated funds have done well this year (notably