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Few stock mutual funds have managed to return investors' balances to levels at the market's peak in late 2007, before stocks fell sharply. Despite the recent rally, an investor with $10,000 in a stock fund at the peak has less than that now, in most cases.

Among 21 categories of U.S. stock funds, just two have returned investors to where they stood when the market hit a historic high on Oct. 9, 2007, according to Morningstar. The calculations, through the end of last week, include fund expenses but exclude fund sales charges known as loads.

While few stock investors are whole again, three U.S. stock funds have produced average annualized gains of greater than 15 percent since the October 2007 peak:

FUND: Reynolds Blue Chip Growth (RBCGX)

INVESTMENT CATEGORY: Large-cap growth

AVERAGE ANNUALIZED RETURN SINCE MARKET PEAK: 17.1 percent

$10,000 AS OF OCT. 2007 NOW EQUALS: $16,434

ASSETS: $159 million

MANAGER: Frederick "Fritz" Reynolds

EXPENSE RATIO: 1.8 percent

UPFRONT SALES CHARGE: None

MINIMUM INITIAL INVESTMENT: $1,000

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FUND: Delaware Healthcare (DLHAX)

INVESTMENT CATEGORY: Large-cap blend

AVERAGE ANNUALIZED RETURN SINCE MARKET PEAK: 15.7 PERCENT

$10,000 AS OF OCT. 2007 NOW EQUALS: $15,832

ASSETS: $13.4 million

MANAGER: Liu-Er Chen

EXPENSE RATIO: 1.52 percent

UPFRONT SALES CHARGE: 5.75 percent

MINIMUM INITIAL INVESTMENT: $1,000

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FUND: Intrepid Small Cap (ICMAX)

INVESTMENT CATEGORY: Small-cap value

AVERAGE ANNUALIZED RETURN SINCE MARKET PEAK: 15.1 percent

$10,000 AS OF OCT. 2007 NOW EQUALS: $15,566

ASSETS: $682 million

MANAGERS: Gregory Estes, Mark Travis, Jayme Wiggins

EXPENSE RATIO: 1.57 percent

UPFRONT SALES CHARGE: None

MINIMUM INITIAL INVESTMENT: $2,500

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Note: Returns through Dec. 3

Sources: Morningstar

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