Small-cap funds were the big winner among U.S. equities in the first quarter of 2006, according to figures released by Lipper. The mutual-fund tracker said aggressive, smaller company funds grew 12.56% in the quarter, almost double the average performance of 6.67% of all diversified stock funds. Conservative small caps also performed above average, climbing 10.56%, while slow-moving large-cap growth funds inched up 3.07%, even with the Dow Jones industrials reaching a five-year high during the quarter. Among sector funds, real estate led the way with 13.75%, compared with a sector average of 8.06%. Top performers overall included gold funds, soaring 21.37%, and China regions funds, which were not far behind at 19.85%.
