Portfolio

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.

Wilshire Associates of Santa Monica has introduced a new software feature that allows plan sponsors to evaluate the relationship between the size of assets under management and the return for a given investment manager. Called "Asset Growth vs. Value-Added," it has been incorporated into the Wilshire Compass, software that helps investment executives determine asset allocation strategies, optimal manager allocations, and ideal managers for specific asset classes.

PIMCO Funds Distributors LLC of Stamford, Conn. announced the introduction of the PIMCO Funds Asset Allocation Series - three actively managed mutual funds that invest in diversified portfolios of PIMCO funds.

Thomas White International of Chicago, investment adviser to the Thomas White Funds Family, announced the opening of the new Thomas White American Growth Fund. The fund is designed to seek long-term returns, with lower volatility compared to comparable funds, by investing in equities of broadly diversified U.S. companies. The fund is no-load and requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500.

Scudder announced it is opening the Scudder Retirement Plus Account, a no-fee retirement account for mutual funds and other investment products. It will provide investors access to over 60 no-load Scudder funds and more than 2,000 other funds.