Merrill Lynch Asset Management of New York is planning to offer new mutual funds that will be run by two well-known money managers who joined the firm recently, Robert Doll and Jim McCall, according to two SEC filings.
McCall will manage the Merrill Lynch Focus Twenty Fund. He joined Merrill Lynch this month from Pilgrim Baxter & Associates of Wayne, Pa. after a bitter contract fight. (MFMN 8/9/99)
The Focus Twenty Fund will invest in 20 companies the firm believes will have strong earnings growth and capital appreciation potential, the filing said. It will have a similar investment style to the fund McCall previously managed at Pilgrim, the PBHG Large-Cap 20 Fund.
Doll, who joined Merrill in June, was formerly chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds of New York.
He will manage a group of three funds called the Mercury Large-Cap Series. The group consists of the Mercury Large-Cap Growth Fund, Large-Cap Value Fund and Large-Cap Core Fund, a blend of growth and value styles, an SEC filing said.
The three series funds will be based on the Russell 1000 Growth Index, Russell 1000 Value Index and Russell 1000 Index respectively, the filing said. Each fund will invest at least 80 percent of its assets in stocks of its corresponding index.
