PRODUCT WATCH: COLORADO STATE BANK & TRUST STARTS A FUND FAMILY

Colorado State Bank and Trust in Denver has created the Aristata family of mutual funds by converting common trust assets.

The no-load equity, bond and double tax-exempt offerings were launched March 2 with combined assets of $175 million.

All three funds will be advised by Tempest Isenhart Chafee Lansdowne & Associates of Denver, which had advised the bank’s common trust funds.

H. David Lansdowne, president and chief executive officer of Tempest Isenhart, heads the investment strategy team.

Cigna introduces customized account

Cigna Financial Services, a discount brokerage, has introduced a managed account that provides investors with professional oversight of a customized mutual fund portfolio for one all-inclusive fee. The minimum initial investment is $25,000.

The account is managed by Portfolio Management Consultants Inc.

Ivy set to offer junk bond fund

Ivy Management expects to offer a high-yield bond fund early next month. The new fund is to offer Class A, B, C, I and adviser class shares. It will be managed by Leslie Ferris, who has been a portfolio manager for the Ivy Bond Fund since 1993. Fund shares will be available for purchase by retail as well as retirement accounts.

Nationwide launches universal life policy

Nationwide Financial Services, Inc., of Columbus, Ohio, has launched Next Generation Variable Universal Life Insurance Policy, a cash-value product.

The policy, marketed under Nationwide’s Best of America brand, offers 39 funds from 14 money managers, giving customers investment options covering all asset classes, domestic and international. At the same time, mortality and expense charges have been reduced to about half the industry average, a company spokesman says.

Montgomery offers long-short fund

Montgomery Asset Management of San Francisco is offering a long-short fund — a load fund that behaves like a retail version of a hedge fund, by going long and short in an attempt to enhance performance relative to the indexes. The fund, which is being distribut
ed through Merrill Lynch & Co., has above-average risk because of its ability to short stocks and its derivatives, says a company official.

King Investment rolls out 2 value funds

King Investment Advisors Inc. of Houston (formerly Jenswold, King & Associates Inc.) has introduced small-cap value and mid-cap value portfolios, containing 30 to 40 stocks each. The approach mirrors that of the firm’s existing all-cap value strategy.

Renaissance fund invests in IPO

Renaissance Capital Corp. of Greenwich, Conn., has started one of the first mutual funds that will invest almost entirely in initial public offerings. The IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund will give smaller investors the chance to invest in the kind of IPOs generally open only to large investors. At least 65% of its assets will be invested directly in IPOs and after-market shares of recent IPOs.