BOSTON - John Hancock Funds expanded its team of international mutual fund managers through the addition of Miren Etcheverry and Gerardo Espinoza.
Ms. Etcheverry and Mr. Espinoza are senior vice presidents, based in Boston, and join London-based John Wills as co-managers of the institutional International Equity Fund and the retail John Hancock International Fund and Global Fund. Ms. Etcheverry is the team leader.
Mr. Wills has been managing the funds alone since the departure of David Beckwith last year, said Susan Bishop, a Hancock spokeswoman. Several international equity analysts will be added to the team later this month.
Ms. Etcheverry and Mr. Espinoza came from Barings Asset Management, Boston. Ms. Etcheverry was head of Barings' Latin American equities team, managing more than $1 billion, and served on the global emerging markets asset allocation committee. Mr. Espinoza directed Latin American equity research and headed the global emerging market stock selection committee.
A Barings spokeswoman, Catherine Monday, said a search is under way for replacements.
Fidelity consolidates units
BOSTON - Fidelity Investments is consolidating the operations of its Boston-based fixed-income department with its Dallas-based money market division at its regional campus in Merrimack, N.H.
The move to New Hampshire, expected in the third quarter, is already responsible for the departure of one fixed-income portfolio manager, Robert Ives, who cited the move as his reason for leaving.
Robin Tice, a Fidelity spokeswoman, said the fixed-income and money markets departments, both headed by Managing Director Fred Henning, will benefit from the synergies of working together. The move will provide both departments with needed space and updated trading technology.
A number of portfolio managers were reassigned to fill vacancies created by the departures of Mr. Ives and Michael Gray, who left in 1996. Fidelity reorganized the department into four broad disciplines: short-term investment-grade bonds, government securities, investment-grade bonds used in the Asset Manager mutual funds, and broad market investment-grade securities.
Andrew J. Dudley, now a fixed-income manager for institutional accounts, will manage the funds in Fidelity's short-term investment-grade discipline.
Kevin E. Grant was named manager of the funds in the broad market discipline and, with Thomas J. Silvia, will co-manage the Fidelity Mortgage Securities Fund.
Mr. Grant will continue to manage the fixed-income portions of three Fidelity balanced mutual funds. Mr. Silvia has served as senior mortgage trader at Fidelity since 1993.
Curtis Hollingsworth will manage the government securities discipline and will continue to manage portions of three short-intermediate government funds.
Charles S. Morrison will manage the investment-grade fixed-income components of the Asset Manager funds. He will continue to manage a variety of short-term and broad market bond portfolios for institutional and retail clients.
Meridian funds
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Meridian Investment Management Corp. launched its first mutual funds in the form of 17 sector mutual funds.
Meridian specializes in management of customized growth portfolios through investment in external sector mutual funds and stock investments.
The launch of the ICON mutual funds brings management in-house and will end use of sector funds from Fidelity, INVESCO Funds Group and Wright Investors' Service.
The funds - 11 domestic equity, five international equity and one short-term fixed-income - will only be used in the construction of custom growth portfolios for institutional and retail clients. Meridian manages $590 million total.
Expansion costs
FORT WAYNE, IND. - The cost of mounting a retail mutual fund operation caught up to one money manager last year. In its release of fourth-quarter earnings, insurer Lincoln National Corp. attributed a drop in operating income to $1.3 million from $5 million for the same period in 1995 primarily to "expenses related to retail mutual fund growth initiatives begun midyear at Delaware Management Holdings."
Development of new mutual funds, an effort to add more wholesalers and increased investment in technology all were part of the fund expansion efforts last year, said Scott Bushnell, LNC's director of strategic communications.
Additional expenses for development of a retail mutual fund presence will certainly affect the bottom line in 1997 as well, because LNC is in the process of acquiring the $2.8 billion of retail mutual fund operations of the Voyageur Cos., Minneapolis.
But the high investment costs may be beginning to pay off. Lincoln National reported an 11% increase in assets under management at the end of 1996 to $105.1 billion.
