In the hotly competitive mutual fund business, staying a step ahead of the pack is the name of the game. And plenty of banks are finding ways to do just that.
This special report - the fourth annual edition of Masters of Mutual Funds - shines a spotlight on nine banks whose efforts over the past 12 months have helped them stand above the crowd.
The smallest of the lot is Placer Savings Bank, a California thrift that derives an impressive 12% of its fee income from investment services. The largest is Citicorp, which made a big splash this summer with its CitiSelect asset allocation funds.
In between are banks like Sovereign Bancorp, which has moved its fund sales effort onto the Internet; U.S. Bancorp, which created an innovative line of mutual funds that invest in other funds; and Barnett Banks, which has put all asset-gathering functions under the watch of a single executive.
The list, of course, is far from exhaustive. Many other banks deserve recognition for their mutual fund strategies.
NationsBank Corp., for instance, continues to prove itself an innovator, having launched a mutual fund supermarket and created a line of no-load funds in 1996.
And Mellon Bank Corp., whose 1993 deal for Dreyfus Corp. was perhaps the boldest maneuver yet by a bank moving onto mutual fund turf, is integrating its product line under the banner of "the Lion Account."
These stories have been widely reported; the focus here is on some less familiar but equally compelling developments.
Also featured in this edition are some bright ideas that banks have come up with to attract investors and raise their profiles.
Congratulations to the banks recognized as 1996's Masters of Mutual Funds!
