The mantra for real estate is location, location, location. What are the three key words of the fund business? Distribution, distribution, distribution. TheStreet.com points out that Putnam Investments ranks only behind Vanguard in in net new sales over the past three years -- despite having mediocre performance.

The article reports Putnam sells its funds through the advice industry: "85% of all its funds are sold through traditional brokers, financial planners and the banks. And it offers its funds in a broad array of flavors, priced any way the customer or adviser wants them."

What the article doesn't reveal though is that the source of much of this cash flow is the advisor force of St. Louis-based Edward. D. Jones.

Chris Davis, the manager of the Davis NY Venture Fund, a large-cap value fund, is not feeling particularly enthusiastic about the current state of the market, since many of his favorite stocks are not participating, in today's The New York Post.

The Chicago Tribune thinks that the Fleet/BankBoston merger, creating the Fleet Boston Corp. may only be the tip of the iceberg for the new company if it wants to compete with the big boys.

The Wall Street Journal debunks six mutual-fund myths.

Mark Veverka plays the name game with Fleet Boston Corp.'s Robertson Stephens, and explores its recent history, in The San Francisco Chronicle. What is the unit to be called? Fleet-Financial- BankBoston-Not-Quite-Nations-Bank-Almost-BankAmerica-Once-Upon-a-Time-Robertson-Stephens Corp. is Veverka's tongue-in-cheek suggestion. 

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