Federated Acquires IAI Assets

Federated Investors of Pittsburgh will purchase the mutual fund assets of Investment Advisors of Minneapolis for an undisclosed price, Federated has announced. Federated will assume the investment management, distribution and shareholder servicing responsibilities for 11 funds totaling $400 million in assets. The merger is expected to be completed by September.

All of the IAI funds will be merged into existing Federated equity, fixed-income and money market funds, according to Federated. Small, directly-marketed fund families such as IAI are now at a competitive disadvantage, said J. Peter Thompson, chairman of the board of IAI Mutual Funds.

IAI has been beset by numerous problems. Recently, the company has suffered high turnover and it has replaced top executives. In May, the firm was fired as co-investment adviser to

the First Funds Capital Appreciation Portfolio, a proprietary mutual fund of First Tennessee Bank of Memphis, Tenn. IAI had managed the $56 million equity fund since its inception in the fall of 1997. The fund group has also been besieged by lawsuits involving its funds' investments in private placement securities and alleged improper valuations of shares since 1998.

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