(MONEY Magazine) – Rising interest rates, spawned by fears of accelerating inflation, depressed most domestic bond prices in February. That opened the door for funds that invest in foreign fixed-income securities. Those that specialize in developing-nations' debt now dominate the one-year-leaders list. Alliance Global Dollar Government, the $16.8 million top performer with a 51.3% gain, holds dollar-denominated bonds from Brazil, Argentia, Bulgaria and Nigeria, among others. Despite the recent surge, however, world income funds as a group still lag the one-year return of U.S. high-yield corporate bond funds.

[Text not available--table ranking Top Performing Taxable Funds (% sales load) for one year, three years, five years, ten years, and the 10 biggest taxable funds; table ranking Top Performing Bond Funds by one-year return (% sales load) in the following categories: U.S. Government, Investment-Grade Corp., High-Yield Corporate, Mortgage-Backed, World Income, and Tax-Exempt]