Products May 5, 2003

First American Completes Equity Fund Mergers

May 17, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Amid a trend of mutual fund mergers spurred in part by a weaker demand for equities, First American Funds announced it had completed folding five of its offerings into other fund options.
Reported by

According to First American, the mergers include:

  • Capital Growth Fund into Large Cap Growth Fund
  • Relative Value Fund into Large Cap Value Fund
  • Growth & Income Fund into Equity Income Fund
  • Science & Technology Fund into Technology Fund
  • Strategy Global Growth Allocation Fund into Strategy Aggressive Allocation Fund

First American said the merger plan got the green light from its board earlier in the year, and from its shareholders earlier this week.

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Eliminate Duplication, Save Costs

According to the announcement, the funds that are merging have objectives that are similar in some cases and virtually identical in others.

Because of that, First American said it hoped the consolidation move would help eliminate shareholder confusion of potentially duplicative fund products.

Officials said they also hoped a slimmed-down fund lineup would also help them achieve better investment performance at a lower operating cost.

Not only that, but First American said the beefed-up size of the five surviving funds could help managers achieve a greater diversification and allow them to block trade and conduct other transactions on a more advantageous basis.

As a result of the mergers, there are now 51 First American funds, with more than $54 billion in assets under management as of March 31.

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