Best 401(k) Funds From T. Rowe Price

We rate the most popular actively managed offerings for retirement accounts.

- NELLIE S. HUANG

THOMAS ROWE PRICE, WHO founded his eponymous investment firm in 1937, is considered by many to be the father of growth investing. It’s little surprise, then, that the company is home to many dazzling actively managed funds that focus on fast-growing stocks. Five such funds rank among the 100 most popular choices in 401(k) plans.

In this article, the third of a four-part series, we analyze those five T. Rowe Price funds, plus the firm’s target-date series, T. Rowe Price Retirement (as a single entry), and rate each fund “buy,” “sell” or “hold.” The list of funds, ranked by 401(k) assets, comes courtesy of BrightScope, a financial data firm that rates workplace retirement-savings plans. (For our review of Vanguard funds, see “Best 401(k) Funds From Vanguard,” Jan.; for our take on Fidelity funds, see “Best 401(k) Funds From Fidelity,” Feb.)

The symbol and the information on fees and performance relate to the investor share class of each fund (with one exception, which we’ve noted); your 401(k) plan may offer a different share class. Returns and data are through January 8.

T. ROWE PRICE BLUE CHIP GROWTH (SYMBOL TRBCX, EXPENSE RATIO 0.69%) BUY We’re big fans of Blue Chip Growth, which has been a member of the Kiplinger 25, the list of our favorite noload funds, since 2016. Larry Puglia has managed the large-company stock fund since its 1993 launch, earning a 12.1% annualized return over the past 27 years, which outpaced the 10.2% gain in the S&P 500 index.