First Union to Price Merged Funds Uniformly

Next month First Union Corp. will offer uniform pricing options on all its fund families.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank's Evergreen Keystone Funds were cobbled together from multiple acquisitions. The Evergreen Funds came with the acquisition of Lieber & Co. in 1994; Keystone Investments joined the family two years later.

The funds' board of trustees recently approved a proposal to merge the two Keystone families and the Evergreen family of funds into one fund company on Nov. 1.

The resulting family, the Evergreen Funds, will offer three share classes and pricing structures.

The Evergreen Funds and the Keystone America Funds now have three share classes. The Keystone Custodian Funds, which had 10 portfolios, offers only B shares with a deferred sales charge that declines over time.

Investors want "a menu of pricing selections when it comes to how they purchase investment portfolios," said William Ennis, managing director of First Union's fund division. The move offers investors flexibility, he said.

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