Mutual funds

Wilshire Associates of Santa Monica has introduced a new software feature that allows plan sponsors to evaluate the relationship between the size of assets under management and the return for a given investment manager. Called "Asset Growth vs. Value-Added," it has been incorporated into the Wilshire Compass, software that helps investment executives determine asset allocation strategies, optimal manager allocations, and ideal managers for specific asset classes.

PIMCO Funds Distributors LLC of Stamford, Conn. announced the introduction of the PIMCO Funds Asset Allocation Series - three actively managed mutual funds that invest in diversified portfolios of PIMCO funds.

Thomas White International of Chicago, investment adviser to the Thomas White Funds Family, announced the opening of the new Thomas White American Growth Fund. The fund is designed to seek long-term returns, with lower volatility compared to comparable funds, by investing in equities of broadly diversified U.S. companies. The fund is no-load and requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500.

Scudder announced it is opening the Scudder Retirement Plus Account, a no-fee retirement account for mutual funds and other investment products. It will provide investors access to over 60 no-load Scudder funds and more than 2,000 other funds.

Hoping to capture a piece of the $192 billion commercial bank sweep market, the year-old partnership of American Century Investments and J. P. Morgan has introduced a same-day bank sweep program.

Federated Investors, a leading investment management firm that manages about $103 billion in assets in more than 150 mutual funds, is opening a new bond fund. The Federated Ultrashort Bond Fund will seek higher yields than money market funds. It will invest in a variety of short-duration debt securities, government bonds and mortgage- and asset-backed bonds. The fund's initial net asset value will be $2 per share.

Fidelity is planning to introduce telephone response units that will allow investors in 401(k) and 403(b) plans to make investment changes by speaking into their phones. The company plans to start the service in early 1999 and have it available for all 401(k) and 403(b) plans by the end of the year.

Lord, Abbett & Company has introduced a new mutual fund. The Lord Abbett Growth Opportunities Fund will invest primarily in mid-sized companies with market capitalizations of $1 billion to $6 billion, with histories of strong earnings and revenue growth as well as experienced management teams.

Fidelity announced the opening of Fidelity Tax Managed Stock Fund, which will seek long term growth while attempting to reduce the impact of federal taxes on shareholders' returns.

A low-cost brokerage and advisory firm from Dallas is poised to reap the benefits of the investment philosophy of Harry S. Dent who has won notoriety with his notion that baby boomers will lead the greatest economic expansion in U.S. history and drive the economy through the next decade.

Imagine this: A dissatisfied technology worker at a mutual fund complex computer network hacks into the company website, disabling it for hours or even an entire day. Investors who rely on the Internet to make transactions and get information about their accounts will be frustrated and furious, overloading the customer service phone lines. Money and loyalty will be lost; investors will take their invested assets elsewhere.

American Century Investments is adding a new fund, Twentieth Century Global Growth, to its group of international funds as of Dec.1. The fund will seek long-term capital by investing in both foreign and domestic companies, primarily in developed markets. Its benchmark will be the Morgan Stanley Capital International World Free Index.

The Internet brokerage E*Trade has launched its own mutual fund family and in the process has created what may be the first mutual fund to offer so-called electronic shares.

Federated Investors last week became the latest fund adviser to introduce a stable value fund, a move which comes as investors increasingly are looking for the stability of money market fund- style investments.

Fifth Third/The Ohio Company has created a Strategic Communications & Technology Unit Investment Trust. The trust will buy a fixed portfolio of stocks in 44 software, Internet, telecommunications, hardware, networking, equipment and semi-conductor companies like America Online, AT&T, Dell Computers and Motorola. Investors can buy units of the trust for an initial offering price of $10 per unit, at a minimum initial investment of $1,000.

Global Investment Systems announced the newest version of its mutual fund accounting systems software, MFACT for Windows, MFACT 4.0.

UMB Financial Corporation announced that it has changed the name of its proprietary family of mutual funds, the Scout Funds, to the UMB Scout Funds. The name change will have no effect on investment strategy.

Merrill Corporation, a provider of paper and electronic document and information management services, is introducing what it is calling, "Electronic Distribution Services." The new services will allow clients to convert marketing and compliance documents to a variety of electronic formats, including HTML and PDF files that can be posted online, or stored in a diskette or CD-ROM.

While John Glenn is making news for NASA as the oldest man to travel into space, a new fund adviser in Los Angeles is hoping that a NASA scientist will make news for its new small-cap quant fund.

In an effort to build its online business, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter is creating a line of proprietary index funds to be sold exclusively through its online brokerage, Discover Brokerage Direct.