NEW YORK, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrill Lynch today said it has
launched the Mercury Global Balanced Fund*, the fifth in the growing U.S.
mutual fund family managed by Mercury Asset Management. The initial offering
of the fund brought in $411.5 million, bringing total assets of Mercury's U.S.
fund family, which was started in October 1998, to more than $2.2 billion.
The Mercury Global Balanced Fund* of Mercury Asset Management Funds, Inc.,
will seek long-term capital growth and current income by investing primarily
in a mix of stocks and high-quality bonds of issuers located in the U.S. and
in other developed countries.
"The Mercury Global Balanced Fund is designed for U.S. investors who want
a globally diversified portfolio but prefer to leave asset allocation and
investment selection to the experts at Mercury," said Jeffrey M. Peek,
Executive Vice President of Merrill Lynch and President of Merrill Lynch's
Asset Management Group. "The fund will draw on the expertise of Mercury's
Global Equity and Global Fixed Income teams, illustrating the disciplined and
team-based approach to investing that has distinguished Mercury as one of the
world's best asset managers."
The Mercury Global Balanced Fund is the latest in a worldwide fund
initiative by Merrill Lynch and Mercury Asset Management, the U.K.-based
global asset manager Merrill Lynch acquired in 1997. The Mercury U.S. fund
family also includes the Mercury Pan-European Growth Fund*, the Mercury
International Fund*, the Mercury U.S. Large Cap Fund* and the Mercury Gold &
Mining Fund*. Each is a series of Mercury Asset Management Funds Inc.
The Fund will invest in issuers located in the U.S. and in other countries
that are part of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Index and the
Salomon World Government Bond Index. In general, the Fund will allocate 60%
of its assets to stocks and 40% to bonds. Under normal market conditions, the
portfolio will not waver more than 15% from this allocation. In addition, it
will seek to hedge its non-dollar-denominated bond position back into U.S.
dollars to minimize the effect of currency fluctuations.
"The Mercury Global Balanced Fund is designed to be a core investment that
is explicit in approach, so clients should not be surprised about where their
dollars are allocated," said Gary Lowe, head of Mercury's Global Equity Team
and a member of Mercury's Central Strategy Group. "By investing in these
well-developed marketplaces, we seek to avoid a lot of the risks that can be
associated with less developed markets."
Asset allocation and the equity portion of the fund will be managed by
Mercury's Global Equity Team, while the fixed-income portion will be managed
by the global team within Mercury's Fixed Income Division. Headed by Mr.
Lowe, the Global Equity Team has 17 investment professionals responsible for
nearly $7 billion in assets. The global team within the Mercury Fixed-Income
Division manages more than $17 billion in assets, and the division itself has
more than $46 billion under management.
Merrill Lynch's Asset Management Group is the second-largest active asset
manager in the world, with more than $500 billion in assets under management.
It provides a comprehensive range of mutual funds, as well as institutional
asset management and private-portfolio services, to individuals, corporations,
governments and institutions worldwide. Its operating units include Merrill
Lynch Asset Management, Merrill Lynch Mercury Asset Management and Hotchkis
and Wiley.
* For a current prospectus, which contains more complete information,
including management fees, sales charges, other expenses and the risk
associated with these Funds, please call a Merrill Lynch Financial Consultant
or 888-763-2260. International investing can involve additional risk to
principal, including currency fluctuations, political instability and
government regulation.
SOURCE Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
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CONTACT:
Christine Walton of Merrill Lynch,
212-449-8548 or christine_walton@ml.com
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