First American Funds has finalized the merging of a number of its funds. The actions follow shareholder approval on Tuesday (May 14, 200) and a director's vote on Feb. 21. The action was taken to reduce expenses at the fund group after its merger with US Bancorp.

The fund mergers are intended to qualify as tax-free reorganizations, with merger expenses borne by U.S. Bancorp Asset Management. The mergers leave 51 First American funds, with more than $54 billion in assets under management as of March 31.

"By focusing our resources on fewer products, we can increase the potential opportunity for better investment performance and lower operating expenses over time," explained Mark Jordahl, chief investment officer of U.S. Bancorp Asset Management, Inc., the funds' registered investment advisor.

Jordahl added that the increased asset sizes of the surviving funds could increase their potential for achieving greater portfolio diversification and may allow them to engage in block trading and other investment transactions on potentially more advantageous terms.

The merged funds are:

Funds Merged	Surviving Funds
Capital Growth Fund	Large Cap Growth Fund
Relative Value Fund	Large Cap Value Fund
Growth & Income Fund	Equity Income Fund
Science & Technology Fund	Technology Fund
Strategy Global Growth Allocation Fund	Strategy Aggressive Allocation Fund

 

See the list of all the 2002 Most Influential People



Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE