Mutual funds

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.

J. & W. Seligman & Co. of New York is planning a new series of four mutual funds that will make use of proprietary asset allocation strategies the firm has developed, according to an SEC filing.

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.

Jundt Associates of Minneapolis, Minn., the adviser to four growth oriented load-funds, plans to begin offering a no-load family of funds next year. The American Eagle Funds will include two growth funds. One of these may use leverage to increase its returns, according to a registration statement filed with the SEC Nov. 19. The new funds include the Capital Appreciation Fund, which may sell short and use other techniques to increase its leverage in investing in growth stocks, and the Twenty Fund. The Twenty Fund will invest in approximately 20 stocks, primarily of U.S. growth companies.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter of New York is planning to offer a mutual fund that will invest in companies that are expected to do well in the economic environment of the new millennium, according to an SEC filing.

Online brokerage Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette of New York has begun offering the first two no-load, equity funds in a new fund family. The Strategic Growth Fund and the Choice Technology Fund will be offered through DLJdirect. The adviser for the funds will be DLJ Investment Management Corp. of New York.

StockJungle.com of Culver City, Calif. has added its own contribution to a new concept in the industry, a concept StockJungle.com calls, "naked mutual funds."

Janus of Denver, Colo., the growth-oriented mutual fund company, is planning to offer its first value fund since 1988.

The Pioneer Group of Boston plans to open a junk bond fund that will incorporate assets from another high-yield bond fund, according to an SEC filing.

Alliance Capital Management LP of New York is tapping two of its hot fund managers to run a new fund. Alliance plans to offer its second value fund, the Alliance Disciplined Value Fund, according to a registration statement the fund filed with the SEC Nov. 3. The fund will be a so-called "deep value" fund, investing in the securities of companies that portfolio managers Paul Rissman and Frank Caruso believe are undervalued. Rissman and Caruso manage the Alliance Growth & Income Fund, which has four stars from Morningstar, the Chicago fund-rating firm.

Charles Schwab Corporation of San Francisco has introduced a mutual fund for people who want to donate to charitable organizations, joining a relatively small number of fund companies offering similar products.