Short Takes: Banks Boost Sales of New Small-Cap Fund

an aggressive fund that's gaining attention at banks. Since its launch Nov. 1, the Pioneer Small Company Fund - which targets the stock of companies with less than $1 billion in market capitalization - has pulled in 20% of its sales through banks, said Barry Knight, vice president of the Boston company's financial institutions division. Fund assets have reached $27 million. Mr. Knight said he isn't surprised by the popularity of the aggressive fund, even though bank customers are generally conservative investors. He noted that Pioneer's best seller through banks is the similarly configured Pioneer Capital Growth Fund, which has two-thirds of its assets in small companies. "We have historically managed small-cap stocks with fairly low volatility," Mr. Knight said.