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Deutsche Asset Management of New York has consolidated the marketing and sales divisions of the mutual fund businesses of Deutsche Funds, Bankers Trust, BT Alex. Brown and Morgan Grenfell under Deutsche Asset Mangement.

American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo., has enhanced its quarterly customer account statements to reflect individual rates of return in each customer's personal portfolio, as opposed to providing performance figures for each fund in its family. For instance, if a particular fund has increased 12 percent in the quarter but represents only 15 percent of the investor's portfolio, the statement indicates that fund's contribution to the investor's portfolio is 0.8 percent (15 percent of 12 percent.)

Prudential Investments of Newark, N.J., has raised $391 million during its 31-day initial offering period for its three new sector funds (MFMN 6/14/99).

For the second time in a month, regulators have issued a warning to mutual fund companies on their advertising practices.

It may no longer be enough for a mutual fund company to supply defined contribution plan participants with a trusted brand name, a diversified portfolio of funds, strong performance and a glossy investment kit.

While ensuring auditor independence may make good business sense in the mutual fund industry, actually achieving it may be very difficult. But, difficult as it may be, it is a problem that mutual fund companies and accounting firms will no doubt have to tackle in the near future.

Why would a mutual fund company want to be bothered offering a 401(k) plan to a company with fewer than 100 employees when a 401(k) account at a single Fortune 500 company can mean tens of millions of dollars of assets under management?

NASD Regulation has postponed indefinitely the idea of adopting new rules which would have changed the way mutual fund companies pay broker/dealers for sales.

The Investment Company Institute's new voluntary guidelines for mutual fund directors could increase the turnover of fund directors by more than one-third in the next five years, according to an industry consultant.

A division of U.S. Trust Co. of Boston is managing two socially-conscious index funds that depart from their peers by trying to beat the S&P 500 rather than special indexes filled with socially-screened stocks.

Fidelity Investments of Boston has created a new index fund of funds. The new fund, the Fidelity Four-in-One Index Fund, invests in the Spartan Market, the Spartan Extended Market, the Spartan International and the Fidelity U.S. Bond index funds. The fund will invest 55 percent of assets in the Spartan Market Index Fund, which mimics the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, and split remaining assets equally between the three other funds.

Putnam Investments of Boston has joined with the Thomas H. Lee Company of Boston, a venture capital firm, to form a partnership which will permit Putnam to sell stakes in venture capital funds and other investment products to institutions and advisors serving high-net-worth investors. The partnership, to be known as TH Lee, Putnam Capital, plans to offer its first fund by Dec. 31. Putnam will have a 25 percent stake in the partnership, with Lee owning the balance. Putnam also has acquired a stake in Lee. Terms of that arrangement were not disclosed.

Waddell & Reed Financial of Overland Park, Kan., has agreed to acquire Austin, Calvert & Flavin of San Antonio, Texas. The companies announced the deal on June 29. The purchase price was not disclosed.

ING Funds Trust of Philadelphia, Pa., made its ING Internet Fund available to the public on July 6. But already, the fund company is talking about closing the fund.

INVESCO Funds Group of Denver, Colo., has opened two money market funds, originally intended only for institutional investors, to the retail market. These are the INVESCO Treasurer's Money Market Reserve Fund and the INVESCO Treasurer's Tax Exempt Reserve Fund.

Morningstar, the mutual fund tracking firm in Chicago, plans to expand its presence on the Internet with a $91 million investment it has received from Softbank Corp. of Tokyo. Softbank invests in Internet businesses. The investment gives Softbank a 20 percent ownership interest in Morningstar. Softbank intends to build the world's first Internet conglomerate.

Mackenzie Investment Management, a mutual fund investment adviser in Boca Raton, Fla., has launched a new family of five international funds of funds. Mackenzie calls this fund family International Solutions.

Berger Funds of Denver, Colo., has renamed its InformationTech 100 Fund the Berger Information Technology Fund. The fund will invest in companies offering hardware, software, networking and communications. This fund invests with a longer investment horizon than other technology funds, the company said in a statement.

Although Mutual Fund Market News reported last month that PIMCO Advisors Holdings of Newport Beach, Calif., has formed a new global unit to manage its international offices, there were reports last week that PIMCO is now looking to be acquired by an international firm because it is dissatisfied with its U.S. growth.

The name Orbitex may not be a household name in the mutual fund industry, but the chief executive officer of Orbitex Management of New York plans to change that and make his company a well-known brand within the next year.