Portfolio

Barrett Associates of New York has introduced the Barrett Growth Fund, a no-load, long-term capital appreciation fund designed to benefit from long-term capital gains tax rates and low overhead.

GE Financial Assurance has added four new funds to the GE Family of Funds. The new funds are a European equity fund; a mid-cap value equity fund; an emerging markets fund and a high yield bond fund. GE Investment Management is adviser to the new funds, although the mid-cap fund uses NWQ Investment Management as a sub-adviser, and the high yield fund uses Miller Anderson Sherrerd.

Security Benefit of Topeka, Kan. is offering three new mutual funds: the Security International Fund, the Security Enhanced Index Fund and the Security Select 25 Fund.

Charles Schwab has consolidated its four programs aimed at high net-worth/active traders into a new service called Schwab Signature Services. Replacing Priority, Priority Gold, Schwab Select and Schwab 500 Brokerage, Signature now reduces Schwab's high net worth/active trading threshold from $500,000 or 24 trades a year, to $100,000 or 12 trades a year.

A new mutual fund is being created to help banks satisfy Community Reinvestment Act requirements.

In a twist on get rich games, Mandricks & Cool Articles Worldwide, Port Washington, N.Y. has introduced Mutual Fundz, a new board game.

American Data Services of Hauppauge, N.Y., a shareholder services company, announced that it has started the Imperial Bank Fund, which will invest in the stocks of banking institutions and other financial services firms. The fund will be managed by David Allaire and Michael Laliberte of the Retirement Planning Company of Providence, R.I. The fund will be 65 percent invested in bank stocks and 35 percent in other financial firms like brokerages, lending institutions and insurance companies. It will carry a 4.75 percent front-end load and a 12b-1 fee of 0.5 percent. Minimum initial investment is $2,000, $500 for IRAs.

E*Trade has finally received SEC approval for its first mutual fund and has now started its own asset management business.

A Connecticut registered investment advisor is offering a product that sounds like an investor's dream come true - insurance for a mutual fund portfolio that guarantees that a living investor will not lose his initial investment.

It was ten months in the making, but Mario Gabelli's long-awaited initial public offering of his Rye-based firm, Gabelli Asset Management, Inc. was finally held on Feb. 11.