Firstar Bank, Milwaukee, has rounded out its mutual fund menu with a fund that invests in small companies-a sector that has lagged the rest of the booming stock market.
The Portico Emerging Growth Fund opened Aug. 15 and manages about $35 million of assets. It will invest in undervalued companies with market capitalizations between $250 million and $2 billion, said Todd Krieg, a fund co-manager.
Banks manage only 79 of the 303 small-cap mutual funds, according to Lipper Analytical Services, Summit, N.J. Lipper defines small-cap funds as those that invest in companies with capitalizations between $300 million and $1 billion.
"If we were ever going to open a small-cap fund, now is the time to do it," Mr. Krieg said. "This fills out our product offerings at a time when the product sector has been relatively out of favor for three to four years."
Firstar manages about $22 billion of assets, $4.7 billion of which was in the Portico Funds as of June 30, according to Lipper. Half of the fund family's 28 portfolios are equity funds.