Portfolio

Standard & Poor's Retirement Services, the investment advisory subsidiary of Standard & Poor's Investment Services of New York, has received an exemption to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The exemption will safeguard it and plan sponsors who use its services against fiduciary liability.

Separately-managed account assets grew four percent during the second quarter, according to Cerulli Associates of Boston.

Following its acquisition of U.S. Trust of New York this past June, Charles Schwab & Co. of San Francisco will offer an $800 million private equity fund for wealthy investors this fall, a Schwab spokesperson said.

Mutual fund companies should take note of 401(k) plan sponsors' growing interest in co-mingled funds, a defined contribution alternative to mutual funds that offers lower fees, according to industry executives and consultants.

SEI Investments of Oaks, Pa. will introduce after-tax performance reporting for all SEI investor accounts in the fourth quarter of this year.

Calvert Group of Bethesda, Md. filed with the SEC Aug. 4 to offer the Calvert Social Investment Fund Technology Portfolio.

NEW YORK - The American Stock Exchange is close to filing a patent for an actively-managed exchange-traded fund, but the structure of such a fund is still a mystery, said Debbie Fuhr, a vice president with Morgan Stanley & Co. International of London, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter of New York.

Global Asset Management of Hamilton, Bermuda is planning to file with the SEC to introduce three new closed-end funds in October that will invest in hedge funds, said David Anderson, managing director of Global Asset Management.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company of Bloomington, Minn. has filed with the SEC to offer ten mutual funds to the public.

Two of the first exchange-traded funds based on pan-European indices were launched last week by Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco, said Kerry Steele, a company spokesperson.