PRODUCT WATCH

Online venture capital fund takes plastic via web

A venture capital fund last week received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell shares on the Internet with payment by credit card. It’s a first, fund officials believe, even as they discourage investors from carrying big balances or getting new cards to buy the offering, Technology Funding Venture Capital Fund VI.

“We are pioneering the use of credit cards for online investments as a convenience for our investors,” says Charles R. Kokesh, founder and president of Technology Funding, a 20-year-old Silicon Valley venture capital fund company.

Minimum investment is $1,000 (no cash, please) at www.techfunding.com.

As for security, vice president Jodi Sherman says, “It’s safer to make a credit card purchase over the Internet than it is to give your card to a waiter at a restaurant.”

And as for safety of principal, fund officials urge potential investors to read the prospectus on the World Wide Web. The fund plans to invest in pre-public emerging growth companies in information, health-care, Internet and industrial technologies. It notes that there are some risks.

Got a few beans for the Argentine?

BankBoston Corp. is offering what it believes to be the closest thing to a sure thing in the volatile land of the gauchos.

On June 17 its mutual funds arm, Boston Asset Management, will offer an Argentine short-term closed-end fund. At the end of six months, investors are guaranteed to get their money back, plus half of any increase in Buenos Aires’ 28-stock Merval Index — up to 15%.

“The bulk of Argentines are terrified of the volatility of the market, says Laura Tramezzani, president of the asset unit. As well they might be: The Merval has dropped 32% since October.

She says about 97% of the fund will be invested in six-month certificates of deposit, while the rest will go for Merval puts and calls.

Nuveen follows Dow’s barking dogs…

John Nuveen & Co. Inc. is offering versions of “Dogs of the Dow” unit trusts, the popular investments drawn from stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The new trusts, called the Dow 10 Portfolio and the Dow 5 Portfolio, draw from the 10 Dow stocks with the highest dividend yield. The Dow 10 Portfolio uses all 10; the Dow 5 uses the five with the lowest price.

The trusts, offered at $10 a unit, have two-year options, but investors will be able to roll out of them at the end of one year. Both have a minimum initial purchase of $1,000.

. . .While Waterhouse starts tracking Dow

Waterhouse Securities Inc., a unit of Canada’s TD Bank Financial Group, has opened the no-load Waterhouse Investors Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Fund.

The no-transaction-fee fund is available with a minimum investment of $1,000 and $100 for subsequent purchases. The requirement is waived for investors who enroll in Periodic Investing, with a $100 monthly or $300 quarterly minimum commitment. The initial requirement is also waived for purchases in individual retirement accounts.

Brinson joins list of AssetMark offerings

AssetMark Investment Services, a subsidiary of Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Advisory Consulting Group Inc., is adding Chicago-based Brinson Partners to the list of strategists who provide asset allocation guidance to the 400 financial planners in its network. They may use Brinson’s eight institutional mutual funds for clients with accounts as small as $50,000.

Brinson is the global institutional asset management division of Swiss Bank Corp..

First Eagle Funds know As, Bs and Cs

First Eagle Funds of New York is offering level-load C shares for both its domestic and international funds. The new shares for advisers are sold at net asset value, are subject to a 0.75% 12b-1 distribution fee up front along with a 0.25% service fee and have a one-year deferred sales charge of 1.25%.

Fund of America, a non-diversified value fund with $331 million in assets, focuses on finding companies undergoing change. The international fund, a non-diversified international equity value fund with $47 million in assets, seeks companies in growth environments. Both are managed by Arnhold and S.

Bleichroeder Advisers Inc. John Hancock signs on adviser-share line

Also adding adviser or Class C shares are four John Hancock funds: Emerging Growth, Growth, Special Opportunities and International. A month ago, seven of the Boston insurer’s other funds added the level-load shares.

The Hancock version has no front-end load, no back-end load after a year and a 1% annual fee.

MoneyLine kicks off Internet info service

MoneyLine Network Inc. has launched an Internet information service at www.moneyline.com from its global headquarters in New York and European headquarters in Britain.

It promises financial content and applications in real time over the Internet. The data are collected from sources previously available only over proprietary networks and systems like Bloomberg’s. Its market coverage includes fixed-income, money markets, foreign exchange, futures, stock, news and commentary services. Historical prices, charting capabilities and analytics are also available.

Kemper expands its annuity lines

Kemper Insurance Product Division has expanded the lineup of investment subaccounts for its two Kemper Gateway annuity products, Gateway Elite and Gateway Custom. Each now offer 24 variable investment subaccounts, up from 16, as well as nine guaranteed period accounts and a fixed account.

The name of the underlying investment of one Gateway subaccount has been changed to Kemper Contrarian Value Portfolio from Kemper Value Portfolio.

A Syrius test program for planner software

Total Resource Software LLC users have agreed to become guinea pigs for the Sycomex Syrius comprehensive financial planning and portfolio management system.

Syrius is designed to run the office of an independent financial planner. It includes both an integrated database financial planning system and a compliance management system. The software is expected to be ready for general release by early next year.

Sycomex also will take over the development of the IFS/Wilson software used by TRS members.

N.Y. Life’s MainStay adds seven funds

New York Life Insurance Co. has added seven mutual finds to its MainStay lineup, for the first time using outside subadvisers.

The additions and the subadvisers are Blue Chip Growth, Gabelli Asset Management Co.; Research Value, John A Levin & Co. Inc; Small Cap Value, Dalton Greiner Hartman Maher & Co.; Small Cap Growth, Equity Income and High-Yield Bond, MacKay-Shields Financial Corp.; Growth Opportunities, Madison Square Advisors Inc. The last two subadvisers are indirectly owned by New York Life.