There's a reason why people haven't had the "growth versus value" discussion in a while. For the past several years, both investment disciplines have tracked fairly closely, if you're to believe the Russell 3000 data. Since the election results, however, things have changed. Disregarding the "whys" behind this for the moment, let's instead focus on the data itself.

The first quarter numbers from Morningstar show this vividly. On average, growth funds beat value funds by just under 5 percent. The disparity is more pronounced in the small cap arena, where the average growth fund exceeded a 5.5 percent return, while the average value fund languished at barely above break-even, after having been down more than 2 percent year-to-day just before the quarter end.

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Christopher Carosa

Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).