In Search of Small-Cap Growth Funds With Big Returns, Small Expenses

There are more than 220 small-cap growth funds to choose from, so you might as well focus on finding one with big returns and modest expenses.

Screen Gems: High Returns, Low Fees

Mid-Cap Growth Funds

Large-Cap Growth Funds

Tech Funds

Over the years, growth investors haven't cared much about a fund's expenses. The average small-cap growth fund rang up a 61% gain in 1999, so even miserly types probably worried precious little about whether their fund's expense ratio was higher or lower than the category's 1.66% average. After many small-cap growth funds finished last year in the red, however, funds' costs are looking a lot more relevant.

Big Growth in Small Packages? Small-cap growth funds have, on average, trailed the broader market during the past decade

Source: Morningstar. Returns through Jan. 24.

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