Soon you won't be excused if you confuse your beer with your mutual fund. The Guiness Flight funds, perhaps best known for its fund based on Wired's New Economy index is changing handles to Investec. The funds are sponsored by Investec Asset Management which said that the change is a part of the merger of Guiness Flight and Investec which began in 1998. The firm expects the new name to become effective on November 30, 2000.

The firm also said that its board of trustees and shareholders of the Guinness Flight Asia Blue Chip Fund approved a name change for the fund and a change in its investment objective to include New Economy companies in Asia. The fund's new name will be the Investec Asia New Economy Fund. Prior to the change the fund was limited to investing in blue chip Asian stocks.

The New Economy in Asia is in its infancy," says Royce Brennan, managing director of US operations of Investec Asset Management. "We believe the emergence of the New Economy in the region will take the form of three distinct phases. First, Asian high-tech companies are providing much of the information technology hardware for the New Economy as it develops globally. These companies are currently experiencing strong demand and earnings.

"The second phase is the development of the wired and wireless infrastructure. There are significant companies that are focusing upon developing this infrastructure. Finally, during the next few years we expect more Asian companies in a wide range of industries to place information networks and technology at the center of their business model and become new economy operators. The Investec Asia New Economy Fund is focused upon investment opportunities that may occur as these three phases develop in Asia."

Investec operates 90 funds with roughly $25 billion in assets.  

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