What's the X-factor behind Fidelity mutual funds' long-term success?

IBD's 2025 Best Mutual Funds Awards list spotlights mutual funds that have topped their respective benchmarks over the past one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods through Dec. 31, 2024 .

For this year 's list, Fidelity mutual funds take home a whopping 78 awards across nine investment categories, ranging from U.S. diversified stock funds to taxable bond funds.

Fidelity lets fund managers play to their strengths by giving them the freedom to pick stocks.

Ramona Persaud , manager of $291.3 million Fidelity Global Equity Income fund ( FGILX ) runs the portfolio in a more risk-averse way.

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth fund has posted annual returns of 18.1% , topping the S&P 500's 13.1% gain by a full five percentage points.

Persaud's style is to deliver alpha by capturing less downside risk than the benchmark.

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth adds value by investing when Wall Street is underestimating a company's growth rate and the durability of that growth.

The fund manager buys growth stocks in three buckets: secular growth, cyclical growth and opportunity.

Kalru is a big believer in the "wheel effect," or the notion that successful companies have even more opportunities to expand their business and keep growing.