Unfamiliar Name That Rings a Bell
Take two of the most distinguished names in the mutual fund industry and combine them. What name do you choose for the new parent? A third name no one’s ever heard of.
That’s what Twentieth Century Cos. and Benham Group have decided to do. On Thursday, Twentieth Century unveiled a new name for itself and its Benham unit: American Century Investments, with $53 billion in assets.
Twentieth Century’s name has been synonymous with stock mutual funds for nearly four decades. In February 1995, Twentieth Century agreed to buy Benham, which for 25 years has been mainly known for its bond and money market funds.
The initial reaction to the new corporate name of American Century: “We already have a couple of American fund groups out there,” said Russel Kinnel, an analyst at fund-rating firm Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. “It could get confusing for investors.”
Los Angeles-based Capital Group has its American Funds, for instance. And then there’s Van Kampen American Capital.
“There may be some confusion, at least initially, but no one has the name American Century Investments,” said James Benham, the company’s vice chairman.
Kansas City, Mo.-based Twentieth Century and Mountain View, Calif.-based Benham said management considered a variety of names, including Twenty-First Century, before deciding on American Century Investments. The change is effective Jan. 1.
Although the corporate entity becomes American Century, only some of the company’s individual mutual funds will take the American Century name.
The firm said its balanced, asset-allocation, conservative-stock and specialty-stock funds will be renamed American Century funds. The Twentieth Century Value Fund, for instance, becomes American Century Value.
But the company’s 40 bond and money market funds will retain their Benham names. And the growth, aggressive-growth and international-stock funds will keep their Twentieth Century names. For example, the popular Twentieth Century Ultra Fund won’t change its name, and neither will the Benham GNMA Fund.
The firm said the American Century banner will designate funds “in the middle of the investment spectrum between aggressive growth and fixed income.”
