Separately Managed Acct Assets Climbed 29% Last Year

By Tara Siegel Bernard

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

10 February 2004

Dow Jones News Service

(c) 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Assets housed in separately managed accounts totaled a record $506.63 billion at the end of last year, up 29% from 2002, according to data released Tuesday by the Money Management Institute.

During the same period, assets held in mutual funds climbed 30% to $5.36 trillion (excluding money-market funds), according to the Investment Company Institute. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose about 26.4% last year.

Separately managed accounts are individual accounts containing stocks selected by professional money managers, and usually require a minimum investment of about $100,000. Unlike mutual funds, separately managed accounts allow investors to directly own the stocks within, giving them the ability to sell shares or avoid certain investments. Direct ownership of the stocks is supposed to give wealthy investors better control over tax and diversification issues.