Growth mutual funds fared poorly relative to value funds during the 2000-02 bear market. But they have outperformed in the past 10 years, which includes the 2007-09 bear market. Your investment of $10,000 in growth, core and value funds would have behaved quite differently in the past 10 and 15 years. The latter period included both of those outsized bear markets. The past 10 years caught only the later market slump.