Portfolio

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter of New York will issue a new social index fund called the Morgan Stanley KLD Index Fund, according to a preliminary prospectus filed April 17 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Assets of exchange-traded funds have declined during the current market downturn, along with those of many mutual funds. That is no surprise. However, unlike stock mutual funds, which experienced net outflows in February, exchange-traded funds are being used more than ever, as average daily trading volume continues to rise.

Convincing companies to become sponsors of new 401(k) plans can be an extremely difficult task. That is a concept that Persumma Financial of Newton, Mass., part of the MassMutual Financial Group, should understand well.

Twenty percent of the nation's 37 million 401(k) plan participants who seek outside investment advice, rely on advice from mutual fund representatives, according to a new study from Spectrem Group of Chicago. That is largely because the majority of plan sponsors, 84 percent, offer no investment advisory services to their employees, according to the study. The results of the study were released by Spectrem Group last week.

Principal Preservation Portfolios of Milwaukee, a fund family with $1.2 billion in assets under management, has announced that it has changed its name to the North Track Funds.

State Farm Insurance of Bloomington, Ill. has announced that it is offering mutual funds nationally. The company started offering mutual funds in January, in a pilot program in Missouri, North Carolina, Kansas and Virginia.

Young adults under 35 who have retirement accounts with Fidelity Investments of Boston are well prepared to meet their retirement needs. On average, if they sustain their current savings rates, they are likely to cover 124 percent of their retirement needs. However, those 35 and over are likely to fall short. If they sustain their current savings rates, those in the 35 to 50 age group are likely to be able to cover only 60 percent of their retirements needs while those over 50 are likely to have enough to cover only 27 percent of their needs.

When a roomful of mutual fund company executives at a recent industry conference was asked for a show of hands of those who had looked into running managed accounts as a means of growth for their respective companies, no one moved.

A growing number of 401(k) plan participants are seeking a brokerage option within their 401(k) plans, according to a soon-to-be released study conducted by Hewitt Associates of Lincolnshire, Ill.

Munder Capital Management, adviser to the Munder Funds, has announced the opening of the Munder Power Plus Fund, one of the first mutual funds focused on investing in technology for new sources of power.