For all the recent talk about a bump in the recovery, some companies with a hefty stake in the global economy seem to be doing just fine. Intel s (INTC) record-setting quarterly earnings report and better-than-expected results from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) last week illustrate how some large-cap names have been able to maintain growth throughout a volatile stretch of the recovery.

Yet, some analysts have raised questions about the sustainability of those gains. Now, with a slew of big companies including PepsiCo (PEP), Apple (AAPL) and Yahoo! (YHOO) scheduled to report results this week, investors are grappling with where large-cap growth stocks and the funds that own them might fall on the risk spectrum.

Growth funds are typically more risky and volatile than value or blend funds. They focus on stocks with better-than-average earnings growth and that reinvest to fuel more growth by expanding, acquiring and developing.

Mutual fund investors have been growing more averse to risk lately. They took $4.2 billion more out of equity funds than they put in for the week ended July 7. That was up sharply from the net $216 million they took out the week before and more than double the amount they took out the week prior.

If you re at the bottom of a recession you want to buy value stocks: they are cyclical and they participate where steady growth rates will perform, says Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management. When you are in a sustained recovery and cyclical profit levels peak, you turn to inherent unit growth that is consistent and is more highly valued once cyclical growth calms down.

Still, it s hard to argue with the results of companies like Apple, which sold millions of iPads amid significant market volatility this spring.

Many portfolio managers focused on large-cap growth. They are less concerned with the price-to-earnings ratio (a gauge of how expensive a stock is and an indication of expected growth) than with real growth potential over five or 10 years that s independent of economic cycles, says Paulsen. Car sales, for instance, fluctuate greatly with economic cycles, but you ll sell technology regardless, he says. Growth investors will pay a higher price than value investors, but they are looking to realize sustainable growth beyond the rate of the economic cycle, he says.

This week, SmartMoney looked at funds that Morningstar categorizes as large-cap growth funds. We narrowed the field to those that performed in the top 10% of their category year to date and in the top 15% for the trailing three- and five-year time periods for their peer group; received a five-star rating or better from Morningstar; and kept their annual expenses nominal. We were left with 11 funds, and included below the five best performers among them this year.

One fund generated by the screen s results, Sequoia (SEQUX), also made SmartMoney s list a week earlier for a screen on price/earnings ratios. The fund has just 10% turnover annually, a fraction of its category average according to Morningstar. The fund s top holding, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), has been in the portfolio for more than 10 years. The fund has benefitted from the performance of its other top four holdings, retailer TJX Companies (TJX), Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) and industrial distributor Fastenal Company (FAST).

Another fund that made the list, Ivy Balanced Y (IBNYX), is invested between 10% to 20% in hardware, financial services, consumer goods and industrial materials each. Its five largest holdings are JPMorgan Chase, Apple, Cisco (CSCO) and Colgate Palmolive (CL).

Apple, Cisco and Berkshire Hathaway were also in the top five holdings of the Invesco Van Kampen American Franchise Y Fund (VAFIX). This fund s relatively new manager, Dennis Lynch, looks for stocks with strong competitive advantages, which might come from superior management, unique technology and irreplaceable assets, among other things, according to Morningstar analyst John Coumarianos.

The Criteria: The funds on the table have a minimum investment of $5,000 or less. They're open to new money and charge an annual expense ratio no greater than 1.5%. In addition, their performance track records were in the top 10% for their category year to date and in the top 15% over the trailing three- and five-year time periods. All have at five-star ratings from Morningstar, and as usual, we did not include load funds.