Mutual funds are increasingly using the Internet for marketing and distribution. But a new fund will use the Internet to aid in portfolio management.
The fund, the InvestmentWizard Fund, is still in registration with the SEC. But according to its prospectus, it will pick stocks using a database from the InvestmentWizard Web site.
Derek J. Hoggett, creator of the InvestmentWizard site and president of the fund's adviser, Investa Management Co. of New York, will manage the fund. Scott B. Stokes, vice president of Investa, will be co-portfolio manager of the fund.
InvestmentWizard is a subscription-only Web site that provides investors with indicators of when institutional investors have made large purchases or sales, stock quotes, SEC filings and analysts' recommendations.
Besides the InvestmentWizard database, the fund will use the Investa Overwriting Strategy, a proprietary investment method that Hoggett has used for managing private accounts since 1984. The Investa Overwriting Strategy involves buying and selling options on the Standard & Poor's 100 and 500 indexes.
Hoggett was a two-time winner and six-time runner-up at the U.S. Investing Championships, according to the prospectus. He is also founder of Telescan of Houston, Texas, an investment software company, and OzSoft of New York, publisher of the Investment Wizard.
The fund is using these biographical details, in addition to the fact that Hoggett has appeared as a commentator for several television financial news programs such as the MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour and in USA Today, to market the fund in its prospectus.
Investa is also creating a new index fund called the Super Index Fund, which will aims to exceed the annual return of the S&P 500 Index. That fund will also use the Investa Overwriting Strategy. Investa further has plans for a fund that will invest in companies that promote women in the workplace, according to its Web site. Investa officials could not be reached for comment.
The InvestmentWizard Fund will be sold directly, without a load, and with a one percent management fee and 0.25 percent 12b-1 fee.
