JPMorgan U.S. Equity Fund Class R5 JUSRX

The JPMorgan US Equity strategy, which includes Europe-sold vehicles branded as JPMorgan US Select Equity, remains an outstanding option when accessed through share classes with competitive fees.

This strategy hasn’t been up to its usual lofty standard in 2025, but the key positives that underpin its Above Average People and High Process ratings remain. As of October 2025, both the trailing one-year and year-to-date returns of the US mutual fund’s I shares fell in the bottom half of the large-blend Morningstar Category. An overweighting in UnitedHealth Group hurt while underweightings in Tesla (notably in late 2024) and Palantir detracted relative to the S&P 500 prospectus benchmark. Manager Scott Davis and comanager Shilpee Raina are disappointed in some of their picks but stand by others, such as the slumping NXP Semiconductors. The constantly probing Davis was quick to reassess his positioning in certain cases, selling out of UnitedHealth and flipping Broadcom from an underweighting to an overweighting, which have both been good calls as of mid-November 2025.

The strategy’s strong process framework remains in place. Davis runs a roughly 50-stock portfolio that is concentrated enough to stand out from the S&P 500 benchmark but assembled in a way that makes it behave like a more diversified offering. Through a close partnership with analysts, Davis looks beyond conventional sector classifications to select stocks with the best risk/reward profile that, in aggregate, assume similar exposures as the benchmark across risk factors like the health of the consumer, the direction of commodity prices, or the path of artificial intelligence. It’s a formula that goes beyond simpler designs that merely aggregate analysts’ top picks. And unlike some peers running similarly concentrated mandates, Davis and Raina pay close attention to stocks they don’t own, resulting in a carefully curated and intentional portfolio.

Davis remains firmly entrenched as the lead manager of this now USD 90-plus-billion strategy and receives great support from J.P. Morgan’s 20-member core analyst team as well as Raina. Though the strategy is large, its focus on large-cap stocks assuages concerns around trading and swelling ownership of companies. However, it remains an area to watch should assets grow materially.

Though its impressive run of performance may end in 2025, the strategy has a strong chance of getting back on the podium.

The quality of this strategy’s portfolio construction, research, and collaboration earns a High Process rating.

Despite generally investing in around 50 stocks, this portfolio has behaved like a more diversified one, and that is due to manager Scott Davis' work alongside J.P. Morgan's central team of sector analysts. Analysts rank stocks in their coverage universe by conviction in their prospects, but Davis doesn't simply pick the ones on top. He challenges analysts on their picks, pitting stocks against others possessing similar business characteristics, all with the goal of building a portfolio with substantially the same factor risks as the benchmark. The portfolio's sector weightings tend to differ from those of the benchmark, though, as Davis considers the correlations between stocks more than their official labels. This framework has allowed the firm’s best ideas to shine, while getting the most out of a more collaborative analyst team whose compensation is tied to the fund’s overall performance.

The net result of this process is a concentrated portfolio whose variance from the index is explained by stock-specific factors rather than sector or style bets. Davis utilizes a quantitative model to backtest hypothetical portfolios, but much of his work is focused on forward-looking risks that won't necessarily be captured by historical data. Notably, the acute attention to detail extends to stocks not owned, as Davis and comanager Shilpee Raina constantly assess why their chosen holdings are preferred to alternatives.

This portfolio differentiates itself from the S&P 500 while and keeping a lid on risk. The US mutual fund held 50 stocks in September 2025 and kept about 48% of assets in the top 10 positions. However, manager Scott Davis' desire to let stock selection drive results leads to only moderate sector bets relative to its S&P 500 prospectus benchmark. He also considers factor exposure when building the portfolio. For instance, he weighs the merits of energy stocks versus defense companies like Northrop Grumman, which can be similarly correlated to geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East.

The strategy also may invest in companies based outside the US, such as current holding ASML. Davis feels justified in owning foreign companies that derive a significant portion of their revenues from the United States or those with no domestic alternative. The vast majority of the strategy's assets, however, are invested in US-domiciled firms.

The portfolio has historically leaned a bit more toward growth stocks than its benchmark but still tends to fall in the blend section of the Morningstar Style Box.

Given the strategy's growing asset base of over USD 90 billion, it tends to avoid mid-caps with less liquidity. The September portfolio held about 12% in mid-caps versus closer to 20% for the category average. Investors should expect large caps to remain the focus.

Deep analyst resources and a capable lead manager warrant an Above Average People rating.

Scott Davis and J.P. Morgan’s core analyst team are the key draws here. Davis became a named manager in August 2014, inheriting a 10% slice of the strategy, but quickly saw his share grow, most notably after manager Thomas Luddy stepped down at the end of 2017. Before getting full control of the US mutual fund in 2020 (and in 2019 for the European vehicles), Davis managed 65% of the fund alongside comanager Susan Bao's 10% and an analyst-directed sleeve representing 25%. Davis has been instrumental in establishing a collaborative approach, and the fund’s results have impressed over his tenure.

Davis continues to leverage the ideas of J.P. Morgan's core research team, which consists of around 20 analysts with extensive industry experience. That group tends to see an analyst or two leave most years, but capable replacements are consistently found. Analysts have a portion of their compensation tied to this strategy’s performance, which helps align incentives. The team has powered strong results here and at related large-cap offerings.

Davis receives additional support from Shilpee Raina, a former analyst on JPMorgan Equity Income who became a named comanager in November 2021. Raina helps vet stock ideas alongside Davis and gather insights from the analyst team.

J.P. Morgan continues to build a track record of strong stewardship, supporting a Parent rating upgrade to High from Above Average.

With more than USD 4 trillion in assets under management (including USD 1.3 trillion in money market funds) and a broad reach, J.P. Morgan is among the largest active asset managers in the US, Europe, and Asia. Although some multi-asset offerings have struggled over the past five years, prompting new leadership to make changes to investment teams, its equity and fixed-income teams boast long-tenured portfolio managers who practice repeatable investment processes that have generally produced strong long-term results. Most of its funds are core building blocks with long lifetimes, though its lineup around the world also includes more-specialized options: Two options-based equity-income exchange-traded funds, launched in 2020 and 2022, are now among the firm’s largest. J.P. Morgan has been an early mover in offering active ETFs, having converted 12 of its open-end mutual funds to the structure and launching others. It isn’t always at the forefront of emerging trends. While it has filed registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an interval fund and an ETF investing in private markets, it hasn’t yet introduced such an option for all investors, whether on its own or in partnership with another asset manager, unlike some of its closest competitors.

To support the firm’s diverse investment offerings, J.P. Morgan has invested heavily in both portfolio management tools and its client organization. Over the past 10 years, the firm has developed robust proprietary technology with advanced analytics and broad buy-in from investment analysts, portfolio traders, and portfolio managers, all of whom have easy access to the platform. The firm also stands apart for its demonstrated commitment to clients. In the early 2000s, J.P. Morgan began pivoting its engagement with financial advisors to adopt a more consultative approach, supported by its sought-after Guide to the Markets research series that focuses on investor education, not product pitches. This perspective can help clients stay the course, supporting positive investor outcomes.

Incentives reinforce alignment with fundholders. Beginning more than 10 years ago, investment team compensation is tied to three-, five-, and 10-year performance, and portfolio managers must invest at least half of their deferred compensation in J.P. Morgan strategies. Many firms encourage portfolio managers to invest alongside fundholders, but J.P. Morgan goes a step further in requiring client-facing individuals to invest substantial portions of their incentive compensation in the funds.

Although some funds still face high cost hurdles, more than half of share classes charge competitive fees relative to peers.

Despite a difficult trailing 12 months, this fund’s track record remains stellar over the long term.

Lead manager Scott Davis transitioned the US mutual fund’s portfolio to his sole control in February 2020. From the start of March 2020 through October 2025, the institutional share class’ 18.0% annualized return edged the S&P 500’s 17.8% and the Russell 1000 category benchmark’s 17.4%. Stock selection, as opposed to sector or industry allocation, has been the key driver of the fund's excess returns.

The fund’s relative performance has been fairly consistent, landing in the first or second quartile of its peer group in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024. Calendar-year 2022 was a weaker one versus peers, though it still beat the Russell 1000 category benchmark. The first 10 months of 2025 told a different story, though, as the fund trailed nearly 60% of peers and lagged both relevant indexes by over 2 percentage points. Its underperformance over the trailing one-year period was worse, with the differential expanding to over 4 percentage points. A combination of stock-specific factors was to blame, notably bets on slumping UnitedHealth Group and NXP Semiconductors. Davis sold UnitedHealth and believes its outlook has become much more precarious than in years past when it was a steady contributor. However, he stands by NXP Semiconductors, a company he believes is too cheap and will rebound from a period of reduced demand for its chips.

JPMorgan US Equity R5's Prospectus Adjusted Expense Ratio is 0.54% per year. It places it in the second-cheapest quintile of the Morningstar US Fund Large Blend Category, where the median fee is 0.67% per year. This cost positioning translates into a Medalist Rating Price Score of 0.64, which reflects its relative price positioning within the category. The Price Score ranges from -2.50 (most expensive) to +2.50 (cheapest), with higher scores indicating better cost competitiveness.