In the Internet gold rush, fund customers find a research treasure; but will they buy as well as browse?
Article Abstract:
The mutual fund industry has joined the frenzy to market over the Internet over the last two years. Investors can buy funds on the sites of a number of no-load fund companies or through the sites of the brokerage firms that offer fund supermarkets. Many no-load fund companies, including American Century Investments, Vanguard Group and T. Rowe Price Associates, have created their own online brokerage firms, selling individual stocks and offering many funds besides their own. According to a report on Internet investing for consulting firm Forrester Research, by 2003, investors will hold $1.2 trillion in fund assets in Internet-based accounts, up from an estimated $128 billion by the end of 1999. Yet, the most obvious change due to the Internet is the ability of investors to access all sorts of detailed research regardless of the level of their investment. At Vanguard, 37 percent of shareholders used the Web to get information or make a transaction in the first quarter of 1999, up from 20 percent a year earlier. At Charles Schwab & Co., 45 percent of all fund transactions were done online in mid-June, up from 25 percent last year and 16 percent at the start of 1998.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1999
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Morgan and Vulcan invest in 2 electronic trading systems; the fast-growing services offer alternative markets
Article Abstract:
Two more companies have joined in the investment of computer-based trading systems. One, Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures, a venture capital firm, has invested $25 million in Island ECN for a 12 percent company share in exchange. The other, J.P. Morgan and Company Inc, has bought a 20 percent share in Archipeligo. Electronic trading systems are hoping to provide investors with a less expensive, alternative method of securities trade without intermediaries.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1999
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Crowds of Internet investors begin to thin
Article Abstract:
Internet stock prices have fallen about 30 percent since last month and investors seem to have taken a more conservative attitude toward Internet investments. A report by the Investment Company Institute, which tracks mutual fund investments, shows that investors have pulled a substantial amount of funds out of Internet stocks. Investors seem to be afraid of the volatility of the market.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1999
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