Portfolio

Charles Schwab & Co. of San Francisco has reached an agreement with OffRoad Capital Corporation, also of San Francisco, to offer private equity investments to Schwab customers.

Only three mutual funds track the Dow Jones Industrial Average while 118 funds track the S&P 500, according to Lipper of Summit, N.J. However, because the change in the Dow index that took effect Nov. 1 is likely to greatly improve its performance, a number of mutual fund companies might bring Dow Jones index funds to market, according to portfolio managers and researchers.

Participants in corporate defined contribution plans serviced by Fidelity Investments of Boston are saving an average of seven percent of their income, Fidelity has found.

The mutual fund arm of Bank of America of Charlotte, N.C. plans to offer three new funds next year, according to a registration statement that the Nations Funds Trust filed with the SEC Oct. 25. The funds include the Nations Mid-Cap Index, High Yield and Kansas Intermediate Municipal Bond funds, according to the registration statement. Banc of America Advisors of Charlotte will advise the funds. The Nations Funds family already includes over 60 funds.

American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo. has teamed up with Automatic Data Processing of Roseland, N.J. to provide 401(k) plans to small businesses.

William H. Miller III, one of the most successful managers in the mutual fund industry and a key to Legg Mason's success in fund sales, has formed a new company with Legg Mason which will manage a new Miller-run fund, possibly by year end.

A new technology fund that promises to invest in Internet companies, is also socially responsible, putting it in a class of its own among technology funds.

Charles Schwab Investment Management of San Francisco is taking steps to provide more investment flexibility for the managers of Schwab's four MarketManager funds of funds.

Retirement is the main reason people save and invest in only three of ten leading nations - in the U.S., Germany and the U.K., according to a survey commissioned by American Express of Minneapolis, Minn. People in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore and Taiwan save money to have a cushion in case of an emergency, particularly in case of being laid off from their jobs.

Most employers are outsourcing their retirement plans, but a large number are not paying much attention to how well their plans are being managed for them, according to a study completed this summer for Delaware Investments of Philadelphia by Greenwald & Associates of Washington, D.C. It may be because of the bull market, according to one Delaware executive.