Short Takes: Keystone Alters Tags, Strategies of 2 Funds

Keystone Investments has changed the names and investment strategies of two international funds.

Keystone Global Resources and Development Fund, formerly the Keystone Strategic Development Fund, will emphasize natural resources and energy in Asia and Latin America. In its previous incarnation, the fund invested in any area that fed the infrastructure of a global market, said John M. McAllister, a company spokesman.

The investment strategy change will better differentiate the product from other global funds, Mr. McAllister said. "Before, it was hard for brokers and registered sales representatives to see where the product fit in," he said.

The Keystone Fund of the Americas used to invest in U.S. and Canadian stocks and Latin American stocks and bonds. Under its new investment strategy, it invests about 20% of its capital in U.S. and Canadian stocks and the rest in Latin American stocks. The fund's manager can invest in Latin American bonds, too, but is no longer required to have bond holdings, Mr. McAllister said.

"The way the fund was, was unique," Mr. McAllister said. But that made it difficult to compare its performance to that of other funds.

Under the old investment strategy, the fund would lag others if Latin American stocks did well, Mr. McAllister said, because of its U.S. and Canadian investments. It also did better when Latin American stocks performed poorly. Because of its Latin American bond exposure, it lagged other Latin American funds that did not invest in bonds, he said.