As the bull market in U.S. stocks enters its seventh year, the 2015 U.S. Lipper Awards on Tuesday honored fund managers for producing steady risk-adjusted returns in both up and down markets.

"We wanted to highlight consistency over multiple time periods this year," said Tom Roseen, head of research services at Lipper, a division of Thomson Reuters.

Sixty-eight funds were recognized for leading their categories on a risk-adjusted basis over both three and five-years, Roseen said. Eight funds––including the T. Rowe Price Maryland Tax-Free Bond fund, the GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund, and the PIMCO Fixed-Income Shares fund––led their peer groups over the last three, five, and 10 years.

The focus on providing steady returns is one way for actively managed funds to stand out as investors increasingly opt for passive funds that track broad market benchmarks.

Stockpickers last beat passive funds by a wide margin in 2007, according to Lipper data. As a result, they are increasingly fighting an uphill battle for assets, with investors sending $444.6 billion to equity index funds and exchange traded funds while pulling $421.2 billion out of actively managed stock funds between 2009 and 2014.

The strong performance of several so-called "socially responsible" funds––those that base their investments in accordance with religious, social or environmental principles in mind––could help counter the push towards passive funds, Roseen said.

Five socially screened funds received Lipper Awards, including the Calvert Global Water Fund, the Guidestone Extended-Duration Bond Funds, and the Parnassus Core Equity Fund.

"The old adage used to be that if you invest with your morals you will lose a little money. But these funds are showing that you can invest with your morals and still get a really good return," he said.

Firms that received awards for the overall performance of their line of funds included TIAA-CREF, which won the overall award for large company, and the Oakmark Family of funds, which won the overall equity award in the large company category.

Small companies that received fund family awards included Hotchkis & Wiley, Guggenheim Investments, and Thrivent Asset Management.