The one-year returns on the two plans were about the same, 13.5 percent.

The investment turned out to be all upside, with one-year returns of nearly 20 percent.

The prominently displayed numbers, including a 25.22 percent one-year return, are impressive.

Companies above the median paid their top executives an average of $5.7 million and gave shareholders a 26 percent one-year return.

Investors should also consider longer-term statistics, like one-year or five-year total returns, which include any capital gains, Mr. Crane said.

On Wednesdays, the special field in the tables will show the one-year total return for the fund, expressed as a percent.

"It is 30 years, and you cannot judge performance on one-year returns."

Given Magellan's situation and investors' focus on one-year returns, do 36-month total returns make sense for incentive fees?

Its most recent figures show a one-year return of 19.36 percent, compared with the index's 18.61 percent.

Growth funds can give a portfolio some muscle over time, but they do not pack the same punch year after year, as the one-year returns show.