Portfolio

John Hancock Funds of Boston, has teamed up with Standard & Poor's of New York to provide retirement services to more than 1,000 companies nationwide.

Pure-play, or sector funds, are beginning to show up along with the usual investment options of 401(k) plans: large-, small- and mid-cap, growth and value investments, according to industry executives.

The average account balance for active 401(k) participants grew by 26 percent from 1996 to 1998, largely due to the continuing bull market in equities, according to a recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute, both of Washington, D.C.

Intuit of Mountain View, Calif. and TeamVest of Charlotte, N.C. have joined together to offer free online investment advice for 401(k) plan participants.

The adviser to the Value Trend Links Fund is preparing to expand its fund lineup.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter of New York is planning to offer a new tax-managed fund.

Resurgence in international markets has prompted some fund companies to consider strengthening their international offerings and the marketing efforts behind those funds, mutual fund executives say.

As of January 1, the Social Security Administration began phasing in an increase in the age at which retirees can receive full benefits, from 65 to 67. Congress passed a law in 1983 mandating these changes begin taking effect in January, 2000.

Investors in 401(k) plans have more investment options and receive more education about investing for their retirements than they did three years ago, according to the 1999 "Trends and Experience in 401(k) Plans" survey by Hewitt Associates, a management consulting company in Lincolnshire, Ill.

The Electric City Funds of Schenectady, N.Y. is planning a new mutual fund that will invest primarily in a small group of stocks that it will hold long-term, according to an SEC filing.