In general, cam profiles for power and performance will have more lift and more duration... cams for better FE, less duration but usually about the same lift as stock. I base this on several race cam profiles I've played with, my Geo's Xfi cam, and a 1975 Ed Iskenderian "Mile-A-More" grind for a 327cu in Chevy V8 I stuffed into a Vega back in 1978. Less duration seems to net mpg gains in most engines is the trend, but I'm sure their are exceptions.
I'll also add that cam profiles are not just guessed upon, but the process for developing a new profile for a given application is done in itterations. Engine sofware like "Engine Analyzer" are a good place to start, you can run simulations from your PC, which had been very helpful for me in choosing a better profile for a race engine. But you need specifics, I had all of the data at my figertips from which to work, like intake runner volume and most important cylinderhead flow table for those particular sets of heads I was building an engine around. Not having meaningful REAL information and plugging it into software would likely be and excersize in "GIGO" or "Gabarge In, Garbage Out".
I had worked with cam grinders late Babe Erson in Anaheim, Ca and more recently, Dema Elgin now in Santa Rosa, Ca.
My advice to anyone serious about having a custom cam ground for any purpose, is to read up on cams at
http://www.elgincams.com/ to become familiar with the terminology at least, then keep an open mind and talk with veteran Dema (or some other gray haired old timer cam grinder near you) about your goals to see if he can help you. Unless you are trying to set some world record, you will get very close to optimal in one try. Trying to figure out what blank to start from, how far to advance or retard the cam timing is way premature, my advice is to find an expert and give him your business.
Dema has taken cast cams and built up the lobes with hard weld, so we could change lobe centers adn increase lift, has built me a couple billet 8620 steel cams from my supplied blanks, but the knowledge base from which cam grinders work is increadible. BTW, he has my Xfi cam that I need to pick up.