Investing.com -- Bank of America reported that 44% of large cap active funds outperformed their Russell benchmarks in September, slightly below the average monthly rate of 46%.

The bank said market leadership shifted back toward mega cap stocks during the month, with the cap-weighted S&P 500 beating the equal-weighted index by nearly 5 percentage points. Narrow market breadth created challenges for active managers.

Growth funds recorded the weakest performance across large cap styles, with just 37% outperforming compared to roughly 50% for both Core and Value funds. Bank of America noted that Meta and Advanced Micro Devices, which both rose nearly 30%, accounted for 70% of the Russell 1000 Growth index's total gain in September.

Despite the weak September showing, 67% of Growth funds still outperformed in the third quarter and 64% remain ahead year-to-date. In comparison, just 27% of Core funds and 8% of Value funds are leading their benchmarks year-to-date.

Small cap active funds posted the strongest results in September, with nearly 60% beating their benchmarks. The Russell 2000 fell 5.3%, compared to a 4.2% decline for the Russell Midcap and a 0.6% drop for the Russell 1000.

Mid cap active funds saw only 40% beat their benchmark during the month.

Year-to-date, 41% of large cap funds are outperforming, slightly ahead of the historical average of 37%. The average large cap fund ended the third quarter roughly in line with its benchmark.