The professors' approach sidesteps these problems because it doesn't compare funds with generic benchmarks.

Using that information - which is often free - investors can compare funds before making choices.

This makes it possible to compare funds, and to see how much more or less volatile they have been than their peers.

The percentage change continues to appear, making it easier to compare different funds.

Investors can quibble over plenty of points in comparing indexes and funds.

When comparing funds, be sure to take taxes into account.

"The fact is, there is no useful data base for comparing funds or their returns."

When analysing investment performance, statistical measures are often used to compare 'funds'.

Morningstar is fully aware of the problems of comparing younger and older funds.

A new study has found a different problem in the way Morningstar compares young and old funds.