Portfolio

Two mutual fund companies with national distribution have opened up a new front in the increasingly heated competition to sell investment funds with insurance benefits.

The Vanguard Group has filed a registration statement with the SEC for a new fund called the Vanguard Tax-Managed Small-Cap Fund.

The Growth Fund of Spain, one of 15 closed-end funds managed by Scudder Kemper Investments, was to convert to an open-end fund last week. Shareholders had previously approved a proposal to convert the fund and to reorganize it as a new fund in the Kemper Global/International Series.

Fidelity Investments Public Service Sector Services Company announced that it has introduced SLAMNet, the first electronic asset management, Internet-based product designed specifically for public sector clients. SLAMNet gets its name from Fidelity's acronym for its State and Local Asset Management program. Through a secured website, the company offers access to stock quotes and information from major news services and trade publications. It also gives users the ability to trade Fidelity's institutional money market funds online.

Alleghany Funds of Chicago recently opened the Alleghany/Chicago Trust Small Cap Value Fund. The fund will invest in companies with positive or improving cash flows and which show other signs of financial strength. The fund will be managed by Patricia Falkowski. Previously,

Strong Funds of Milwaukee has introduced Prime Managers, a mutual fund investment service that makes available no-load funds from nine leading investment managers on a no-transaction fee basis.

Janus and Legg Mason are among the latest of a growing list of companies that run sector funds- those that invest in a particular market sector.

A publicly-traded Christian Internet company is getting into the mutual fund business.

Mellon Bank Corporation of Pittsburgh and its mutual fund company, the Dreyfus Corporation, announced the start of a new family of offshore funds based in Dublin, Ireland. The fund family, Dreyfus Global Funds, plc, will be composed of four funds: The Cash Plus Fund, U.S. Treasury Fund, Deutsche Mark Fund and Sterling Fund. The funds are not available to U.S. or Irish citizens.

E*Trade announced the launch of Power Search, its newest research tool for mutual fund investors, which was developed by Personalogic, a San Diego-based software design firm. Using Power Search, E*Trade's mutual fund investors will be able to compare funds they have selected with as many as 20 other funds.