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Non-Tech : FedEx (FDX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Darryl Olson who wrote (412)	9/7/1999 4:25:00 PM
From: Darryl Olson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 524

Tuesday September 7, 12:32 pm Eastern Time FUND VIEW-Wired "New Economy" fund not just Net By James Saft LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The road to Internet and technology riches may well lead investors to companies in industries as prosaic as distribution or bricks and mortar retailing, according to fund manager Investec Guinness Flight. Investec has launched in Britain the Wired Index Fund, which will track a basket of 40 shares maintained by Wired Magazine, a U.S. technology publication. The fund aims to offer exposure to companies with global scope and a strong technology and communication component. And though Internet and computer companies such as Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Dell Computer (Nasdaq:DELL - news) are included, so are less glamorous ones such as Federal Express (NYSE:FDX - news) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT - news). Federal Express parent FDX Corp., for example, has seen a growing portion of its revenue generated by on-line shopping deliveries. ''FedEx has attracted a higher valuation due to Internet deliveries but I wouldn't claim that's the reason you want to buy it,'' said Jim Atkinson, head of Investec Guinness Flight's U.S. division. ''I think the bigger argument is what they do in logistics and software and fulfilment.'' Companies working with FedEx are able to use its technology to keep inventories low and production costs down, he said. Smaller firms are also able to subcontract to FedEx to gain the same distribution muscle that formerly was only available after a major investment of capital. Telephone orders to U.S. mail-order retailer Lillian Vernon, for example, are actually handled by FedEx employees with access to FedEx warehouses filled with Lillian Vernon merchandise, he said. Though the customer thinks he or she is speaking to Lillian Vernon, FedEx fields the call and sources and delivers the goods, he said. Another favourite ''new economy'' stocks of Atkinson's is Wal-Mart, which uses sophisticated information technology to manage inventories and spur sales. ''If someone buys a blue feather-duster in a Wal-Mart in California by the time they are in their car the company knows about in at headquarters in Arkansas,'' said Atkinson. This allows the company to keep inventories at its stores lean, which means more selling space and higher revenues per square foot of store, he said. It also allows the company to see what is selling and readjust display space to suit, he added. The fund has been going since December in the United States and has some $110 million under management. Since its U.S. launch the fund has returned some 38 percent, compared to 16 percent for the S&P 500. Wired will make changes in its 40-stock index only in the event of a corporate event such as a takeover, but at that point all shares in the index would be re-evaluated. The fund will be a sub-fund of the Guernsey-domiciled Guinness Flight Global Strategy Fund and will be managed by quantitative analyst Doug Blatch.