Montgomery also manages Bridgeway Small-Cap Growth (BRSGX), which is less than three years old. Here, too, Montgomery proves that he is one of the best computer-using stock jockeys in the land. "Quants," as managers who spend their days refining computer models are known, tend to do best with stocks of small companies. "It's easier to beat the market with very small stocks than with very large stocks," says Montgomery.

Small-Cap Growth's assets stand at just $218 million -- making it nimble enough to prospect effortlessly among small companies. The fund gained 12% in 2004, its first full year, 18% last year and 7% in the first two months of '06.

As its name indicates, RS Value (RSVAX) looks for bargains. Manager Andy Pilara invests mostly in midsize companies selling at a steep discount to their fair value. Since Pilara took over the fund in 1999, it has trailed its peers only twice. Over the past five years, it gained an annualized 18%. Lately, Pilara has become a fan of media stocks, investing in such firms as Discovery Holding and Liberty Global. He also remains an energy bull. "Many energy stocks are still ridiculously cheap," he says.

Another first-class fund that invests in cheap, midsize companies is Vanguard Selected Value (VASVX). Managers James Barrow and Mark Giambrone are better known for managing most of Vanguard Windsor II, a premier large-company fund. "Mid caps offer more opportunity because the companies aren't as closely followed by analysts," says Giambrone. Selected Value has finished in the top half of its peer group in four of the past five years. Expenses are low, at 0.51% per year. (Note that Vanguard has hired Donald Smith & Co. to run a small portion of the fund.)

Large growth-company funds

Tom Marsico is bullish on emerging markets. So how does the veteran, Denver-based manager play these exotic markets in Marsico Growth (MGRIX)? By investing in big U.S. multinationals. He's buying shares of such citizens of the world as Caterpillar, which is helping to construct China's new cities, and FedEx, which is flying more and more packages around Asia.

Marsico's approach to emerging markets illustrates how he combines big-picture economic thinking with savvy stock picking. And his methods work. Since its start-up in late 1997, Marsico Growth has outpaced the average fund that specializes in large, growing companies in all but two years. The fund's annualized return over the past five years -- a difficult period for large-company growth stocks -- is a meager 4%. But that still puts Marsico Growth in the top 10% of its category. Before setting up his own shop, Marsico produced stellar returns for nearly ten years at Janus Twenty.

One worry: Assets in Marsico Growth and other similarly managed accounts stand at $55 billion. That's worth keeping an eye on, but so far Marsico is handling the challenge.

The past five years have been unkind to investors in T. Rowe Price Growth Stock (PRGFX), as well as most other funds that specialize in big, fast-growing companies. Bob Smith guided Growth Stock to a 3% annualized gain over that stretch. The average fund in this category lost an annualized 1%.

Given their recent record, why bother with these kinds of funds at all? Because they can sizzle, as they demonstrated in the late 1990s, and they are bound to do so again. When their turn comes, Smith's fund will be well positioned. Smith, who buys stocks only when he thinks they're reasonably priced, holds solid growth companies such as Amgen, General Electric and Microsoft.

Masters' Select Equity (MSEFX), which is run by managers from six different investment firms, doesn't fit neatly into this group. Its roster of managers includes both bargain hunters and those who favor growth stocks. But as the big growth stocks have languished, managers who favor value stocks have taken to buying growth stocks as well.

Select Equity's all-star managers include Chris Davis and Ken Feinberg of Selected American Shares, Mason Hawkins of Longleaf Partners and Bill Miller of Legg Mason. Each manager (or manager pair) invests 10% or 20% of the fund's assets. Except for 1997 and 1998, the fund's first two full years, it has topped the S&P 500 each year. Since its inception, it has gained an annualized 10%.

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