Consumer-staples mutual funds have outperformed their cyclical peers in the past 10 years and are holding up better in this year’s sell-off. But the best performing fund for both periods is focused on retail stocks, which can be more cyclical. The average consumer-staples mutual fund has risen an average annual 10.2% in the past 10 years vs. 8.73% for the average consumer discretionary fund and 6.98% for the S&P 500.