Latin American funds, as a category, were the top gainers in 2005, surging 53.4%, followed by Japan funds at 33.6%, according to Lipper. Also, emerging-market funds outperformed those in developed countries, climbing 31.9% last year. And while finance-services funds inched up 6.6%, natural-resources funds soared 41.1% and gold fund moved up 30.5%.

Among the best performers last year, ProFunds UltraJapan led the pack, skyrocketing 90.6%, followed by ING Russia A at 70.9%. The year's worst performer was Ameritor Investment, which nosedived 68.2%, followed by American Heritage Growth at -42.9%. The leading natural-resources fund was Gartmore GI Natural Resources I (+66.0%) and the top gold fund was Vanguard Precious Metal (+43.8%). The worst-performing categories in 2005 were balanced target maturity (+1.1%) and convertible securities (+2.8%).