Good Stock Picking Gives This Primecap Odyssey Fund a Lift

Outsize exposure to an outperforming tech stock and a pair of drugmakers have boosted recent returns for the Primecap Odyssey Growth Fund. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.You are now subscribedYour newsletter sign-up was successfulWant to add more newsletters?Delivered dailyKiplinger TodayProfit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. 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After two lackluster years, the Primecap Odyssey Growth Fund (POGRX) is back. In 2025, the fund gained 33%, beating the S&P 500 Index, which climbed 18%, as well as 99% of all large-company stock funds.Moreover, the fund did so without a big allocation to communications services and information technology companies, which top the performance charts and dominate the broad market.Combined, the communications services and information technology sectors account for nearly half of the S&P 500 (they advanced 34% and 24%, respectively, over the past 12 months). But those sectors make up just over one-third of the Primecap portfolio.Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special IssuesProfit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.Instead, POGRX, which is a member of the Kiplinger 25, our favorite no-load mutual funds, has hefty exposure to health care (26% of the fund's assets) and industrial stocks (18%). Health shares struggled for much of 2025 but rallied to finish with a 15% gain. And industrials returned 19%, just ahead of the broad market.The fund's outperformance boils down to good stock picking, not sector exposures. Its best performers in 2025 included tech stocks, of course, such as Micron Technology (MU), which soared 240%.But a few drug companies — BeOne Medicines (ONC), up 64%, and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (RYTM), up 91%, for example — and a consumer-sector stock, Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding (BABA), up 75%, pepper the top contributors, too.Five managers divide the assets at Odyssey Growth and run their portion independently. But they all focus on growing companies priced at a discount with a catalyst to drive prices higher.The process tends to create a portfolio that bears little resemblance to the S&P 500. For example, instead of the usual mega-size tech names, the fund's top holdings are pharma giant Eli Lilly (LLY); Xometry (XMTR), a Maryland–based machinery maker; and the aforementioned BeOne Medicines.Over the past decade, the fund's 14.1% annualized return beat 65% of large-cap stock funds but lagged the 14.8% record of the S&P 500.Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.Nellie joined Kiplinger in August 2011 after a seven-year stint in Hong Kong. There, she worked for the Wall Street Journal Asia, where as lifestyle editor, she launched and edited Scene Asia, an online guide to food, wine, entertainment and the arts in Asia. Prior to that, she was an editor at Weekend Journal, the Friday lifestyle section of the Wall Street Journal Asia. Kiplinger isn't Nellie's first foray into personal finance: She has also worked at SmartMoney (rising from fact-checker to senior writer), and she was a senior editor at Money. You might be flushing money down the drain if you have any of these laundry habits. Vanguard aims to launch a line of target-maturity corporate bond ETFs. Including your wishes in your will or in a pet trust can ensure proper care when you can’t provide it. Vanguard aims to launch a line of target-maturity corporate bond ETFs. Large unrealized capital gains can create a serious tax headache for retirees with a successful portfolio. A tax-aware long-short strategy can help. Separating facts from fiction is an important first step toward building a retirement plan that's grounded in reality and not based on incorrect assumptions. 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