MutualFundWire.com: Two Month-Old Wasatch Fund Balloons to $93 mm
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Friday, August 13, 2004

Two Month-Old Wasatch Fund Balloons to $93 mm


Wasatch Funds' six small-cap funds are closed to new investors. But worry not; the Salt Lake City fund launched a new fund on June 18. The barely two month-old no-load fund has already grown to $92.7 million in assets.

Wasatch: Wanted
Fund Family Status Size (Assets, $ Mil)
Wasatch Core Growth Closed $1,423.0
Wasatch Global Science & Technology Open $63.9
Wasatch Heritage Growth Open $92.7
Wasatch International Growth Open $178.6
Wasatch Micro Cap Closed $490.8
Wasatch Micro Cap Value Closed $80.7
Wasatch Small Cap Growth Closed $1,110.8
Wasatch Small Cap Value Closed $707.7
Wasatch Ultra Growth Closed $405.7
Wasatch-Hoisington U.S. Treasury Open $44.3
Source: Wasatch websites
Unfortunately, small-cap investors will have to hunt elsewhere, because the new fund will invest in large-cap stocks.

Wasatch managers expect the median market capitalization of holdings be between $8 billion to $10 billion, with a mimimum of $3 billion and a maximum of $20 billion, said spokeswoman Mandalyn Kofeod.

Sam Stewart, chief executive officer of Wasatch, described the genesis of the fund: "[f]or years we've discussed introducing a fund that allows us to invest in what we fondly call 'Wasatch graduates,' the growth stocks that succeeded in outgrowing our small company funds."

"[T]he other companies we intend to own are what we call 'research enhancers,'...[i]n our efforts to really understand the small companies we invest in, we research the larger, industry-leading companies. While we may like the larger companies, they don't belong in our small cap portfolios," stated fund managers Chris Bowen and Ryan Snow.

"Since the Fund will typically invest in larger companies than the other Wasatch Equity Funds, we do not anticipate the Fund closing in the near future," stated officials on the Wasatch website.

The minimum investment in the fund is $2,000 for non-IRA accounts and $1000 for IRA accounts. The fund's annual operating expense is 95 basis points.

Wasatch Advisors, the advisor to the Wasatch Funds, manages approximately $9 billion in assets.


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