Mid Cap Mutual Fund Standouts

Here are 3 leading mid-cap mutual funds in three categories of investment styles (from Morningstar's database):

Mid-cap Value-based Funds: There are about 120 funds of this type with $920 million in net assets on average. Their returns averaged 11.2% over the past 10 years. The leading name in this category is $4.2 billion Ariel Fund (ARGFX) which averaged 13.7% annually in last 10 years.

Mid-cap Blend Funds: There are 185 mid-cap blends with an average size of $950 million in Morningstar's database. They've averaged 10.9% return in the past 10 years. Among them the Meridian Value Fund (MVALX) with 1.6 billion market cap was the standout, averaging 17.4% annual gains for the past decade.

Mid-Cap Growth Funds: There are about 302 funds in this category with an average of $744 million in net assets. Their returns averaged 7.8% annually in the past decade. The lead among this pack is taken by the Baron Partners Fund (BPTRX) with market cap of 1.4 billion and a solid return of (10-year average) 14.7%.