8 virtues of great funds: use these signposts of excellence to judge funds you own as well as those you are considering.

Kiplinger's Mutual Funds, March, 2006 by Kosnett, Jeffrey R.

Lusty performance. This is job one: Making money for you. Our favorite funds have total returns (the gain in value of a fund's investments plus reinvested interest and dividends) that are better than the average for their category during most calendar years (deciles 1-5 in the tables starting on page 75) and over numerous periods, such as three, five and ten years. We're not thrilled when a fund's multiyear return is inflated by one fat year--a problem with gold and tech funds. We're also unimpressed when a fund boasts of matching an index. Great funds beat comparable indexes.

We do like funds that limit the damage when the market falls but deliver big in good times. Take Marsico Growth, which invests in large, expanding companies. In 2001 and 2002, when...

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