Mutual funds

NEW YORK - Amerindo Investment Advisors of New York plans to launch two new technology-related mutual funds, as well as a clone of its flagship Amerindo Technology Fund.

There is a new player in the socially-responsible mutual fund arena. Friends Ivory & Sime, best known as an institutional global money manager based in London, has launched two new no-load socially responsible funds.

The Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa. has filed registration statements with the SEC to introduce two new international index funds and to add an institutional share class for three existing international index funds, the company announced last week.

Capitalizing on recent market volatility, Putnam Investments of Boston started offering insurance on all of its funds Feb. 1, becoming the first independent fund company to offer this type of product.

Pilgrim Baxter & Associates of Wayne, Pa. will begin offering separate accounts in an effort to attract high-net-worth investors, according to Tom Florence, a senior vice president and director of the firm.

The money management arm of Waddell & Reed Financial of Overland Park, Kan. is planning to offer a tax-managed fund.

Charles Schwab's Mutual Fund OneSource hit a milestone late last month when the assets of its mutual fund marketplace reached the $100 billion mark. Approximately $30 billion of new money was invested during 1999, translating into a 47 percent increase in assets for the year.

Neuberger Berman of New York registered with the SEC last week to add a new technology growth fund that will be launched in May, according to Jennifer Silver, the company's managing director. The new fund will be managed by a team of portfolio managers led by Silver, according to Neuberger.

The adviser to the Value Trend Links Fund is preparing to expand its fund lineup.

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

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.

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 Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa. is planning to file a registration statement with the SEC for a no-load mutual fund that will track a new socially-responsible index, the company has announced.

The competition for index fund assets will be heating up in the next few months.

Investa Management of New York is planning to introduce two new no-load funds. One of them is an index fund that will attempt to beat the returns of the S&P 500 by using a proprietary options strategy, according to an SEC filing.

Merrill Lynch of New York will introduce a gift tax-free family of funds designed for college saving investors, the company announced last week.

A new mutual fund plans to use Internet message boards to obtain information from shareholders on the companies in which it invests, according to an SEC filing.

Some mutual fund companies may be about to take an "If you can't beat em, join em" approach to exchange-traded funds.

Fund companies are courting new investors, especially high net-worth investors, with charitable gift funds according to mutual fund consultants and charitable fund managers.