MutualFundWire.com: Odd Lots, December 1, 1999

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Wednesday, December 1, 1999

Odd Lots, December 1, 1999

Janus looking down on Vanguard
From The New York Post
For the first time since October 1996 Vanguard is not the top-selling brand among fund companies. That honor now goes to Janus Capital, according to the Financial Research Corp. Janus sold $2.9 billion in new investments last month, edging out the $2.6 billion brought home at Vanguard. The trend may signal that active management is regaining favor among investors as the NASDAQ and technology stocks not commonly in the S&P 500 index have rallied.

Scudder to hand off brokerage biz to DLJDirect
From The Wall Street Journal
High costs, including the costs of technology and advertising, are making it unfruitful for mutual fund companies to enter the discount brokerage business, according to the WSJ. The latest fund company to wake up to this fact is Scudder Kemper which is expected to hand its fledgling brokerage unit to DLJ Direct today. Scudder Kemper reportedly has 15,000 accounts with $1.5 billion in assets. DLJDirect will provide services to these accounts for Scudder Kemper in the future, it will also be able to market its services to Scudder's 1.2 million customers.

Can Solomon save UAM?
From The Boston Globe
Syre & Stein use the announced resignation of UAM honcho Charles Haldeman, and the imminent departure of founder and chief executive Norton Reamer, to lay out a plan to bring back UAM's withered stock. Their solution? Divide the company in two: one stock for the growing business, a second for the bad stuff. They argue that a new CEO will not be able to turn around the business any better than Haldeman was able to, and that selling the business chunk by chunk will not work since the former owners of the management units hold an ersatz veto.

Hancock demutualization approved
From The Boston Globe
Roughly 94% of policy holders approved John Hancock's plan to convert from a mutual insurance company to a stock company. The initial offering for the company's stock is expected on January 28, 2000. Also noted: Hancock's chief executive is among the "lost" policyholders causing controversy in Boston.

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