Amerindo folds two portfolios for Tech fund

NEW YORK: Alberto Vilar, an investor in Internet and technology companies, is poised to fold two of his company's mutual fund portfolios into its remaining Technology fund, a document filed with U.S. regulators shows. The board of directors for the Amerindo funds has voted to merge the company's Internet B2B and Health & Biotechnology portfolios into the larger Technology fund, according to a letter filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Vilar is president and founder of Amerindo.

Running three portfolios at a tough time like this is costly, and merging the funds into one offering should significantly lower annual fees paid by investors, said Michael Sandifer, a member of Amerindo's investment committee. "This will allow us to provide nicely lower expenses to shareholders who have been loyal through this horrifically bad bear market of three years running," he said.

The Internet B2B fund, with assets of $4 million, is down about 30 percent over the last year, Health & Biotechnology fund, with assets of $3 million, has lost 46 percent of its value in that time, according to research firm Morningstar Inc.

Sandifer said investors should not see the fund mergers as an indication that the company has lost faith in the healthcare and e-commerce sectors in which the portfolios invest. In fact, those areas "seem to be on the mend," he said.

The $61 million Technology fund has lost 50.7 percent a year, on average, over the last three years, according to research firm Morningstar Inc. But its performance in the last year -- down 24.3 percent -- makes it one of the best in its field for that period, Morningstar data showed.

Vilar is known as one of the world's biggest benefactors of opera and the arts, having given to the New York's Metropolitan Opera House and the Royal Opera House in London and Carnegie Hall, among other causes.

Vilar, known for making bets on companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems in the 1980s before those stocks became household names, rode the long bull market to riches. In 1999, Vilar racked up a gain of 250 percent in his Technology fund.

© Reuters