Mutual funds

The Evergreen Funds has introduced the Evergreen Premier 20 Fund, a concentrated equity mutual fund. The fund is a multi-cap, multi-sector portfolio with four share classes and it will invest in 20 to 40 stocks selected by four Evergreen managers, according to the company.

NEW YORK - Fund companies continued to introduce new exchange-traded funds throughout the past year, but the market will not be able to support an unlimited number of the new products, according to several industry executives.

American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo. has filed for the registration of a new fund that would carry harsh restrictions aimed at discouraging market timers from investing in the fund.

The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States of New York, a unit of AXA Financial of New York, is in the process of developing the Equitable Premier Funds, a family of ten open-end, mutual funds.

The Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa. has begun offering investors the ability to open new accounts online in a paperless transaction that collects investors' consent through electronic signatures, the company has announced.

New York Life Investment Management of Parsippany, N.J. has filed a registration statement with the SEC for its NYLIM Exchange-Traded Fund.

The Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer its Admiral share class, a discounted share class available to some investors, on 13 of its bond funds, the company has announced.

American Skandia Life Assurance Corporation of Shelton, Conn. has added three index portfolios and eight sector portfolios to its fund offerings, according to the company.

The Willamette Funds of Portland, Ore., is planning to introduce a new fund that will invest in companies that have received venture capital financing, according to a preliminary prospectus filed Jan. 19 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

New York Life Investment Management of Parsippany, N.J. has announced the launch of the Eclipse Funds, a fund family made up of 18 no-load funds to be distributed through fee-based financial planners and wrap programs.

Nuveen Investments of Chicago plans to introduce the first exchange-traded funds to track U.S. Treasury indexes, according to the company. The five new funds, called Fixed Income Trust Receipts, will be based on indexes of one, two, five and 10-year treasury issues and 20-year STRIPs - separately-traded registered interest and principal securities, Nuveen said.

State Farm Insurance of Bloomington, Ill. has announced that it has begun offering 10 State Farm mutual funds in North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri and Kansas. State Farm Insurance plans to offer the mutual funds to customers throughout the United States by March, according to the company.

Aetna Funds, a division of Aeltus Investment Management of Hartford, Conn. will add a sixth fund to its Principal Protection Funds series of guaranteed mutual funds in April 2001, according to Aetna.

Berger Funds of Denver announced that it is revising the investment strategy of the Berger Growth and Income Fund. The fund, which will be renamed the Berger Large Cap Growth Fund, will no longer seek income as part of its investment objective, and will concentrate solely on investment growth within the large cap market, according to the announcement.

Enterprise Group of Funds of Atlanta has announced plans to introduce a mutual fund focused on corporate takeovers. Enterprise will launch the Enterprise Mergers and Acquisitions Fund in the first quarter of 2001, the company announced.

PNC Advisors, the high net worth wealth management division of PNC Financial Services of Pittsburgh, has filed with the SEC to launch a new family of funds of funds using the funds and investment capabilities of its investment advisory affiliate BlackRock, Inc. of New York. The funds will cater to the needs of affluent investors.

The past year was one in which fund alternatives - from managed separate accounts and online portfolio products to hedge funds and exchange-traded funds - earned respect, if somewhat grudgingly, from the fund industry.

If there is a stock index to track, chances are good that there is an exchange-traded fund based on that index. So far, however, there is not an exchange-traded fund that tracks a socially-responsible index of stocks. But, that may soon change, according to industry analysts and executives.

ProFunds of Bethesda, Md., which plans to introduce a line of six new exchange-traded funds, five of which will track the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, does not have the right to do so, according to Bill Jordan, a spokesperson for McGraw-Hill Companies of New York, Standard & Poor's parent company.

Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco is adding 10 new exchange-traded funds to its line up of iShares exchange-traded funds, according to a preliminary prospectus filed late last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.