Mutual funds

MassMutual Retirement Services of Springfield, Mass., has revamped its web site with a sophisticated calculator for its defined contribution and defined benefit customers. The calculator automatically lifts information on client accounts out of various MassMutual records into an analytical engine capable of processing various scenarios for a shareholder's retirement. Also, the calculator stores whatever new information the customer supplies to it. The calculator can even automatically re-balance a shareholder's portfolio.

The investment adviser to the Internet Fund - a portfolio that returned better than 300 percent for the 12-month period ending Jan. 31 - is considering opening a new fund.

Deutsche Fund Management has introduced the DB Americas Bond Fund, a fund that will concentrate on fixed-income securities in the Americas and the Caribbean. The fund will be offered to non-US residents. Deutsche Fund Management will sell the fund through its own and other private banking groups around the world.

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is offering a new fund which will invest primarily in companies whose employees are members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM). The SSgA IAM Shares Fund will invest approximately 66 percent of its assets in IAM-represented companies. The IAM represents 734,000 working and retired members.

John Hancock Funds has begun offering level-load shares for nine more of its mutual funds, bringing to 21 its funds with this pricing option. Instead of charging a sales commission at the time of purchase or when the shares are redeemed, level loads spread the cost over time.

John Nuveen & Co. of Chicago has introduced an investment portfolio of ten companies based on Fortune magazine's "America's Most Admired Companies" list. Fortune compiles this list of ten outstanding companies each year, interviewing more than 10,000 analysts, top executives and board directors to ask them their opinions of companies' financial soundness, long-term investment value and use of corporate assets. Fortune also looks for outstanding innovation, product or service quality, management quality and employee talent.

SunAmerica Asset Corp. has introduced the Tax Managed Equity Fund, designed to produce high total returns and low taxes by using an optimization model developed by sub-adviser J.P. Morgan. J.P. Morgan first began offering this strategy of reducing capital gains taxes to high-net-worth clients in the 1980s. Steven Neamtz, executive vice president of SunAmerica Asset Management, believes investors will increasingly look to minimize after-tax returns.

The IDS Mutual Fund Group, the proprietary mutual funds of American Express Financial Corporation, wants to change its name and increase some fees it charges investors.

The Mutual Fund Education Alliance will hold its seventh annual marketing seminar in San Francisco October 18-19th. The Alliance is based in Kansas City, Mo.

Vanguard has introduced the Tax-Managed Small-Cap Fund, a no-load fund aimed at reducing taxes by investing in a diversified portfolio of low-cost, small-capitalization stocks that promise long-term capital growth and nominal current income.

Stein Roe of Chicago is taking public the Small Company Growth Fund, which is co-managed by Bill Garrison and Steve Saplopek. Their strategy is to invest in 120 to 150 stocks of firms that have substantial growth possibilities and strong management teams. Stein Roe launched the fund in 1996 as a multi-cap fund.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Fidelity Investments of Boston has produced nine 30-minute educational videotapes, derived from the 720-page course book written by the company's president, Robert Pozen ("The Mutual Fund Business", MIT Press, 1998).

An "intelligent document," or IDOC system, created by NeoMedia Technologies of Fort Myers, Fla. can link readers directly to the Internet or to another database site from an annual report or financial statement on software. The product is being marketed by Scott Printing of New Providence, New Jersey. By clicking on a key word or bar code embedded in the document, the IDOC technology can redirect a reader to a company's website or to another area in the electronic document, to learn more about what they are reading. Scott Printing believes delivering information initially in a succinct manner, and then in greater levels of detail, will allow mutual fund and investment companies to provide information more clearly to investors.

Undiscovered Managers Funds has expanded its roster of nine funds with two new international funds, the UM International Equity Fund and the UM International Small Cap Equity Fund. The investment objective of both funds is capital appreciation by investing in publicly traded stocks in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Barrett Associates of New York has introduced the Barrett Growth Fund, a no-load, long-term capital appreciation fund designed to benefit from long-term capital gains tax rates and low overhead.

GE Financial Assurance has added four new funds to the GE Family of Funds. The new funds are a European equity fund; a mid-cap value equity fund; an emerging markets fund and a high yield bond fund. GE Investment Management is adviser to the new funds, although the mid-cap fund uses NWQ Investment Management as a sub-adviser, and the high yield fund uses Miller Anderson Sherrerd.

Security Benefit of Topeka, Kan. is offering three new mutual funds: the Security International Fund, the Security Enhanced Index Fund and the Security Select 25 Fund.

Charles Schwab has consolidated its four programs aimed at high net-worth/active traders into a new service called Schwab Signature Services. Replacing Priority, Priority Gold, Schwab Select and Schwab 500 Brokerage, Signature now reduces Schwab's high net worth/active trading threshold from $500,000 or 24 trades a year, to $100,000 or 12 trades a year.

A new mutual fund is being created to help banks satisfy Community Reinvestment Act requirements.

In a twist on get rich games, Mandricks & Cool Articles Worldwide, Port Washington, N.Y. has introduced Mutual Fundz, a new board game.