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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.

Mutual fund investors are better served by following a "buy and hold" investment strategy rather than moving in and out of top performing funds, according to the SEC.

A proposal to merge the open-ended Global Small Cap Fund of New York with the open-ended PaineWebber Global Equity Fund, won approval Jan. 14, despite efforts by shareholder activists to delay the vote until their own opposing proxy was considered.

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.

After a string of successes in the courtroom through most of last year, the mutual fund industry suffered a setback recently in a federal class action lawsuit which contends that directors lost their independence by earning high pay for serving on multiple mutual fund boards.

Despite heightened awareness within the fund industry and increased scrutiny by the SEC of fund trustee independence, three newly-registered funds have, in recent months, placed individuals whose independence might be questioned, on their boards.

The Investment Company Institute has recommended the SEC tweak proposed rules which would enable fund companies to send only one copy of a proxy statement to a household whose members own the same fund in more than one account.

It is a small part of a big deal but Charles Schwab Corp.'s announcement that it would acquire U.S. Trust Corp. of New York means Schwab will wind up doing something it has tried to avoid.

A class action suit against Dreyfus Corporation of New York will go forward in U.S. District Court in New York. The court dismissed five of eight claims against Dreyfus on Jan. 5. But, the judge allowed three claims to go forward. The remaining claims allege portfolio manager misconduct.

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

SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt is scheduled to give the keynote address next month at a special conference for independent mutual fund directors in Washington, D.C.

There is a new headache and expense coming for mutual fund companies this year - privacy compliance.

In light of the Securities and Exchange Commission's report that auditors at PricewaterhouseCoopers of New York compromised their independence with their mutual fund and other securities holdings, the SEC might cite other accounting firms for putting their independence in question, said accounting industry lawyers and executives.

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.

The Sturgeon Financial Group of Dayton, Ohio is planning to offer a value fund with a technology bent, the first of two funds the firm expects to offer this year.

The high cost of retaining key mutual fund executives and concerns about lawsuits have produced what may become a common ingredient in mutual fund company acquisitions -