MutualFundWire.com: Odd Lots, May 4, 1999

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Tuesday, May 4, 1999

Odd Lots, May 4, 1999

Goldman Cashes In
From Smart Money
Goldman Sachs' shares opened at $76, up 43% from its $53 offering price. Goldman sold 69 million shares, or a 13% stake in the company and raised $3.7 billion -- the second largest IPO in history. Now the question is what to do with the money. Speculators are guessing that an Internet broker -- E*Trade (EGRP), AmeriTrade (AMTD) or Waterhouse Securities -- are in Goldman's sights.

MFS Fights to Keep Fund Investors in the Fold
From InvestmentNews
How can fund sales be down by nearly 50% even as the Dow tears through thousand point milestones like they were made from tissue paper? Individual investors are turning from funds to stocks. To keep from losing clients Louis P. Stanasolovich, president of Legend Financial Advisors Inc. in Pittsburgh recently moved beyond funds and started to offer clients stocks. He is not alone, according to InvestmentNews. So far few fund companies are reacting to this threat. Instead they believe that the "dot com" mania will burn itself out. Not MFS, which is one of the few fund companies with sales. It is spending $5 million on ads reminding investors of the role mutual funds have played in their lives. The tag line "Imagine A World Without Funds," has appeared or will appear in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Time and Newsweek, reports InvestmentNews.

No IPO at Newly Hot Neuberger
From InvestmentNews
Neuberger & Berman is one of the beneficiaries of the shift from Tech stocks to cyclicals. That does not mean that it is dusting off its plans to go public though. Instead, it is readying the debut of a midcap value fund. The firm denied that it has any plans to sell a stake to the public. Last year it planned an IPO of 15% of its shares.

Pick Europe, Not Japan
From The Wall Street Journal
A new report from Cerulli Associates (Boston) argues that overseas growth will be easier to achieve in Europe than in Japan. The fund industry is actually contracting in Japan (assets fell to $376 billion from $382 billion from 1994 to 1998). Meanwhile, Europe is seeing strong growth. Italy and Spain are the countries with the fastest growing fund business. The bad news in Europe is that it is moving more slowly than expected to the defined contribution model.

Fund in Media

Morningstar looks at Fidelity in the first installment of its new Guide to Fund Families.
Which sector funds investing in financial services are best? Smart Money examines the issue. Its finalists are: Fidelity Select Financial Services; Invesco Financial Services; Davis Financial; and John Hancock Financial Industries.
The Los Angeles Times retells the story of the collapse of the Lindner Funds and takes a look at when they should be sold.
The New York Post picks up the story of religious fund growth based on Wiesenberger's survey.