ICI Rolls Unvarnished Shareholder Videotape

WASHINGTON--The ICI decided, at this year's annual convention, to "roll the videotape" and show the industry's leading executives just what their end investors have to say.

At times humorous, due to off-the-mark and off-the- cuff remarks--as well as eye-opening--the Investment Company Institute's 20-minute "Shareholders First" videotape is a distillation of 26 hours of one-on-one interviews with a cross-section of 25 investors in Chicago .

These investors' holdings ranged from $20,000 held by a flight attendant, to a 20-something's $350,000 inheritance, to a $500,000 portfolio a middle-aged consultant had built. The only stipulation was that they had made a mutual fund purchase within the past 12 months.

Complete with close-ups, soundtrack and visual treatments resembling a stock exchange ticker, the professional-grade film was introduced by ICI President Paul Schott-Stevens and other executives here early Tuesday afternoon as a key centerpiece of this year's annual convention.

"The tapes are qualitative in nature, showing patterns and attitudes," said Warren Cornier, president, Boston Research Group, in introducing the film's three key tracks: 1) General attitudes toward mutual funds, 2) Awareness and/or perception of the fund scandal, approaching its second anniversary, and 3) Fees.

"I haven't heard anything bad about them [mutual funds]," said the flight attendant. Juxtaposed right after that comment, which brought roars of laughter from the crowd of 1,500 attendees, a warehousing manager with $120,000 in mutual funds confided he was relieved that some fund executives were going to jail.

"The scandal outed bad actions," he said. Commenting on this was a panel of  three executives from the industry, including: Charles E. Haldeman, Jr., president and CEO, Putnam Investments; Michael S. Miller, managing director, Vanguard Group; and Mark S. Casady, president and CEO, LPL Financial Services.