How are mutual funds performing these days when facing all the economic uncertainties, especially amid the European debt crisis? The answers may not be something of uniformity as they’ll all depend on fund types and fund investment strategies that may or may not fit into particular economic conditions at times. Best mutual funds may be equity funds when most investors take a positive outlook on economic growth and thus have an increasingly higher risk appetite. Other times bond mutual funds may fare better when investors focus more on investment safety rather than abnormal returns. But in the end, commodity mutual funds may come out as a winner because eventual economic growth, especially around emerging markets, will surely fuel strong commodity demand.

Best mutual funds may also hinge on fund management’s investment strategies. For example, equity mutual funds can be large cap vs. small cap or value vs. growth. While large-cap and value focused mutual funds tend to have more stable investment performance during troubled economic times, small-cap and growth oriented mutual funds often see relatively volatile investment performance under the same economic conditions. On the other hand, it would be small caps and growth funds that can quickly press ahead when the economy has finally turned its corner. Meanwhile, large caps and value funds may lag behind the general economic growth because of their less venturous investment approach.

For 2012, some data suggest that best mutual funds may be still those value funds, dividend and other income funds, plus certain bond funds. This is to assume that economies around the world will be still relatively in trenches. Many global funds and some opportunity funds that employ too aggressive investment techniques may find themselves playing catch up most of the time. To achieve market-like performance, investors can always invest in passively managed index funds that track performances of particular market categories and sub-categories. For long-term investors, this can be a safer and less worrisome investment method if they believe that markets will eventually trend higher.

Finally, mutual fund performance comparison should also stress fund measurements within similar categories as opposed to across different classes so that the best funds can clearly emerge first from the same group. Simply put, it wouldn’t be fair to directly compare a domestic fund with an international fund because investment risks and returns are bound to be different between the fund classes. Historical average investment results are also important in mutual fund performance comparison, and that’s why more established funds tend to deliver more reliable performance than funds that are relatively new.