Disclosures used as marketing tool.

Like other companies in the mutual fund business, banks are grappling with new rules requiring them to disclose detailed information on the credentials of portfolio managers.

But instead of griping about the additional requirements, some banks are using the changes as a marketing tool.

The Securities and Exchange Commission rules, which took effect July 1, require companies to supply "more timely, detailed information," said Robert Plaze, assistant director of the SEC's division of investment management.

To comply, companies will have to overhaul their prospectuses and annual reports to include substantial information about performance and portfolio managers.

Undertaking such changes is a costly proposition. But some banks - including Fleet Financial Group and National City Corp. - are using the occasion to make their materials more attractive and user friendly.

National City, for instance, used to produce "plain vanilla" reports for its 10 NCC funds, said Joe Penko, vice president for mutual funds at the Cleveland-based banking company. But the new rules spurred the bank to become "more creative," he said.

Brand-new annual reports not only incorporate required information, but do so in a way that features more color and consistent logos and lettering, Mr. Penko said. "We see this as a way of telling our money management story in an inviting way."

Susan Currier, president of First of America Brokerage Services, Kalamazoo, Mich., said banks could benefit by making fund prospectuses more inviting.

Prospectuses have traditionally been full of legal jargon, making for dry reading that turns off investors, Ms. Currier said. "If they can make the prospectus easier to read, that would be helpful from a customer standpoint."

But it remains to be seen if all the extra effort will pay off by producing more customers.

"The information should allow customers to make a more informed decision," said Tom Ellis, spokesman for First Interstate Bank of Arizona, which offers its own Westcore funds and funds from outside companies. "Only time will tell if that translates into additional sales."

Resumes of Fund Managers

Under the new rules, fund companies will have to disclose such information as where fund mangers went to college, how long they have been with the fund, and what jobs they have held during the past five years.

Funds must also include, in either prospectuses or annual reports, a discussion of investment strategies and market conditions that affected performance.

Funds will start using line graphs to compare their performance to a standard index. An equity fund, for example, could use the Standard & Poor's 500.

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