More Funds Rely on Outside Managers

May 23, 2002 — Mutual fund companies increasingly relied on outside managers to run portfolios last year, a new report showed.

At year-end, 822 funds, or nearly one out of eight domestic open-end funds, was overseen by outside managers, or so-called sub-advisors, according to a study by Financial Research Corp., a financial services consulting company.

The report found that 100 funds run by outside managers were launched last year, including 21 that were run by more than one investment adviser working under contract to a fund complex. Products with multiple managers accounted for nearly 50% of net sales among the new offerings, Boston-based FRC said.