The Junkie's Small-Cap Growth Fund Picks

Today's Fund Junkie features three sections on the best funds for growth investing: Big-cap growth funds, mid-cap growth funds and small-cap growth funds.

Small-cap growth funds, which shop among young shops with volatile stocks, have taken investors for quite a ride. They gained more than 61% on average in 1999, but are down more than 36% over the last 12 months. Here are five funds that haven't always risen as high as their peers, but don't typically fall as far, either.

Small-Cap Growth Favorites
Fund	1-Year Return	3-Year Return	5-Year Return
(ACRNX Quote)Liberty Acorn	1.2%	10.7%	16.3%
(WAAEX Quote)Wasatch Small Cap Growth	-3.1	13.6	14.8
(BGRFX Quote)Baron Growth	-13.2	6.4	14.5
(VEXPX Quote)Vanguard Explorer	-19	8.7	11.7
(MGSEX Quote)Managers Special Equity	-29.6	6.9	14
Avg. Small-Cap Growth Fund	-36.7	2.9	8.7
Source: Morningstar. Returns through March 19.

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