MutualFundWire.com: Odd Lots, May 19, 1999

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Wednesday, May 19, 1999

Odd Lots, May 19, 1999

Pilgrim & manager in brouhaha
From The Wall Street Journal -- password needed
Fund manager James D. McCall has filed suit against Pilgrim, Baxter & Associates alleging breach of contract and fraud. Pilgrim Baxter is seeking to keep McCall from jumping ship to Merrill Lynch's fund group where he has been offered a job managing a yet-to-be-launched large-capitalization growth-stock fund. Pilgrim Baxter and UAM responded with a complaint against McCall seeking to "preclude him from accepting an offer of employment from a direct competitor." The fund company claims the manager is bound by a noncompete in a five-year contract signed in 1997. The crux of the issue, it seems, is that McCall claims he has been underpaid and slowly promoted. Pilgrim Baxter claims that he took home $1.2 million to $1.5 million annually the past two years.

State Street Research habla Espanol
From The Wall Street Journal -- password needed
State Street Research & Management Co. is targeting Chinese and Spanish-speaking investors in the U.S. with seven translated prospectuses. The fund company will intro the documents at today's Investment Company Institute's general membership meeting. According to Financial Resource Corp. the firm's market share has fallen to 0.24% from 0.26% a year earlier, excluding money-market funds. "It is difficult to expand market share in this very competitive environment," Ms. Miller said. "We're looking to identify an untapped opportunity within our own borders." Hispanics account for 12% of the population. State Street Research also has also dedicated phone lines with Spanish- and Chinese-speaking customer-service representatives to service investors who decide to buy the funds.

Funds in the Press

Think of these seven hot new funds as IPOs says SmartMoney. Its picks are: Alleghany Veredus Aggressive Growth, American Centry Global Growth, Invesco Endeavor, Longleaf Partners International, Neuberger Berman Millennium, Northern Mid Cap Growth, & Stein Roe Large Company Focus.