Why We Highly Rate JPMorgan Large Cap Growth

Key Morningstar Metrics for JPMorgan Large Cap Growth

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Process Pillar: Above Average
• People Pillar: High
• Parent Pillar: Above Average

JPMorgan Large Cap Growth JLGMX benefits from a veteran leader and a solid supporting cast, leveraging thorough fundamental research. It earns a People rating upgrade to High from Above Average.

A seasoned large-growth investor leads the way here. Lead manager Giri Devulapally has more than 21 years of experience managing this fund, which ranks just outside the top decile of large-growth Morningstar Category peers. He is supported by five experienced sector analysts, four of whom are also comanagers, recognizing their contributions and laying groundwork for future succession. Comanagers Larry Lee, Holly Morris, Joseph Wilson, and Robert Maloney each boast more than 20 years of experience, including at least a decade at J.P. Morgan, and demonstrate deep knowledge of the portfolio’s holdings.

The team’s approach couples robust fundamental research with a thoughtful momentum component to find long-term winners while limiting downside risk. Through deep company analysis, the team has identified some of the market’s biggest winners early, and it has held on for the ride while managing position sizes effectively using momentum-driven trading. Devulapally has skillfully built and trimmed positions over the years, focusing on companies with competitive advantages, durable growth, and margin-expansion prospects. He typically leans into positioning once the market recognizes a catalyst the team has already identified, leveraging the market’s confirmation to support a longer-term investment while reducing the chances of getting in too early. The team isn’t beholden to this, though, and will add to positions during dips, as it did in early 2025, when some high-flying tech names pulled back. The team’s track record is impressive: Nvidia NVDA (added in 2016), Tesla TSLA (2013), Amazon.com (2007), Meta Platforms META (2013), and Apple AAPL (2005) stand out as notable long-term winners it identified early and held for years.

JPMorgan Large Cap Growth: Performance Highlights

Devulapally has delivered some of the best results in the competitive large-cap growth category during his tenure.

Since he took over as leader in July 2005 through December 2025, the fund’s R6 shares rose 13.9% annualized, topping the Russell 1000 Growth Index’s 13.3% and handily beating the typical large-growth peer’s 10.7%. More impressively relative to large-growth peers, it has thrived during market rallies while limiting damage in downturns, capturing 106% of monthly gains and only 95% of monthly losses. Its consistent record is equally notable: Across all rolling five-year periods under Devulapally, the fund outperformed the typical peer 94% of the time and beat the index 77% of the time.

Still, the momentum tilt can produce sizable performance swings. In 2023, for example, the fund’s 34.3% gain lagged the Russell 1000 Growth Index’s 42.7% and trailed the category average of 35.8%. On the flip side, momentum proved helpful in 2024, as solid picks in communication services and healthcare drove the fund’s 34.1% gain, beating the index’s 32.2% and the peer group average of 29.4%. The fund lagged the index in 2025, as its overweighting in healthcare and underweighting in technology weighed on relative results. But over longer periods, Devulapally has delivered. The fund’s results landed in the category’s top decile in the trailing 10-, 15-, and 20-year periods through December.