NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - TCW Group Inc, an institutional money manager since 1971, is expected to announce a new marketing strategy Monday in which it will offer a suite of high performance mutual funds to retail clients through independent financial advisers.
The company's TCW Galileo funds, previously sold only to institutional and private clients, will be offered through Charles Schwab Corp's <SCH.N> OneSource funds supermarket.
"What I want to do is connect with financial advisers and engage them in intellectual discussions on core competencies of investment management and asset allocation," David Prichard, senior vice president and director of adviser services said in an interview.
He said unlike many institutional managers which seek to deliver a return within a few basis points of a benchmark index, the TCW Galileo funds seek to outperform by a wide margin, or "high alpha." He noted that TCW is known for not only "high octane" investment performance but also alternative investments such as emerging markets and investing directly in China.
Los Angeles-based TCW Group, which includes Trust Company of the West, manages more than $50 billion in assets.
The fund being offered, and their 1998 returns,are Aggressive Growth Equities (63.3 percent in 1998); Large Cap Growth (59.1 percent); Large Cap Value (19.0 percent); Select Equities (38.0 percent); Small Cap Growth (20.3 percent); Core Fixed Income (9.0 percent); High Yield Bond (2.3 percent) Total Return Mortgage-Backed Securities (7.2 percent) and European Equities (25.4 percent).
The Select Equities Fund is run by Glen Bickerstaff, who took over management of the fund in May of 1998. Bickerstaff was lured away from TransAmerica, where he managed the TransAmerican Premier Equity growth fund, a top performer in 1997.
In the interview, Prichard said that TCW sees the adviser distribution channel as a key to the company's retail strategy. He said that as more and more baby boomers come into large sums of money through inheritances, or through pension rollovers, they will turn to professional advisers for help with their investments.
Although known as mainly an institutional money manager for much of its history, closely-held TCW has been involved in the retail market since 1992 when it became sub-adviser to certain Dean Witter funds.
Following the merger which created Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co <MWD.N>, TCW had an opportunity to go into the retail market with its own products. It still acts as sub-adviser to certain Morgan Stanley Dean Witter funds.
TCW has also made entered the managed account services market through new relationships with leading brokerage houses. The agreements include wrap fee programs and separate accounts.
Prichard said TCW intends to be very pro-active in reaching out to the advisers. He said a state-of-the-art Web site will be developed which will allow the advisers to view video presentations by the managers and to interact with them directly.
Although the no load funds will also be available to individuals through a direct marketing telephone channel via 1-800-FUNDTCW, or directly through Schwab, Prichard said the main thrust of the company's marketing effort will be through the advisers.
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