Large growth stocks have led the market over the last decade, but they hit a rough patch in in 2025, dragged down by the market’s darlings.
The “Magnificent Seven”—Apple AAPL, Microsoft MSFT, Alphabet GOOG, Amazon AMZN, Nvidia NVDA, Meta Platforms META, and Tesla TSLA—had driven large-growth indexes and many stock funds to new heights over the last few years. But for the year to date through 17 June, only Meta and Microsoft held up, Nvidia’s returns were slightly positive and the rest, especially Tesla, have seen their stock prices fall.
But these tech giants continue to make up a big chunk of many fund portfolios. Here is where three of Canada’s biggest global equity funds have exposure to the Magnificent Seven, and the technology-related areas where their managers are seeing potential.
AGF Global Select
AGF Global Select’s bets on Amazon and Alphabet haven’t panned out this year, but the managers found success in other tech-related areas both in the US and abroad. Stock price gains for music streaming giant Spotify, cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike, and tech conglomerates like Singapore-based Sea all boosted the fund’s returns this year.
With artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and remote work on the rise, cyber-attacks are getting more sophisticated. AGF sees growth potential in cybersecurity due to the increasing number and complexity of threats targeting individuals, businesses, and governments. AGF holds CrowdStrike, which they consider a top cybersecurity company thanks to its strong platform and rapidly growing market share.
Robotics is also a key area for AGF, driven by advancements in AI, automation, and sensor technology. As companies focus on operational efficiency, robotics can offer scalable solutions for manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and agriculture. One of AGF’s biggest holdings, for instance, is Intuitive Surgical, a leader in robotic-assisted surgery.
Capital Group Global Equity
Fund Size: C$13.7 billion
The Capital Group Global Equity strategy tends to hold less exposure to the Magnificent Seven than the category index. But over the last decade, Capital Group’s managers have stuck to a bigger holding in the semiconductor industry than the index which helped returns.
Semiconductor stocks have been on a tear in 2023 and 2024 due to broad demand from the ongoing AI infrastructure build-out. But the fund was underweight the index in Nvidia. Instead, Capital Group’s two largest positions across the fund were semiconductor stocks Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Broadcom.
Broadcom’s stock initially fell this year due to concerns about future AI spending. Also, escalating US-China trade tensions in March and April further dampened investor confidence. Similarly, Taiwan Semi, the world’s biggest semiconductor foundry, faced pressure from these trade tensions, despite reporting record profits in the fourth quarter of 2024 and a strong outlook for 2025. These two stocks are still among the fund’s biggest holding, with at least one of the companies owned by each of the fund’s seven portfolio managers.
Fidelity Global Innovators
Fund Size: C$16.8 billion
As manager Mark Schmehl runs this fund with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite as its benchmark, more than half the portfolio is invested in technology-related sectors with a large weighting in the Magnificent Seven. But throughout the second half of 2024 he upped his stake in more defensive companies.
In the first quarter of 2025, Schmehl added a large helping of international equities for the first time since 2022, particularly in Europe and China where company valuations are cheaper than the US with added portfolio diversification. But despite the move he still has less exposure to international stocks and more exposure to the US than the Global Markets Index.
He continues to like a wide array of companies exposed to AI-related growth themes but is prioritizing those with fewer risks, such as Taiwan Semi. Over time, he believes the market’s focus will shift from building chips for massive data centers to enhancing AI efficiency and inference, reducing the need for extensive computing power. As a result, new winners with unique business models that leverage these AI tools could emerge. So as 2025’s market conditions prove volatile, he’s prioritizing fundamental research to help find new ideas.
The author or authors do own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.