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To: DJBEINO who wrote (7731)	6/14/2000 8:55:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9582

FUND VIEW-Schroder sees 20-30 pct gain on Nasdaq by year-end By Vithoon Amorn BANGKOK, June 14 (Reuters) - The technology-heavy Nasdaq market would end 2000 with a 20-30 percent gain on its key index (^IXIC - news) despite current market jitters over rising U.S. interest rates, a senior global fund manager said on Wednesday. ``I think Nasdaq will finish the year about 20-30 percent higher, it should be in that range,'' said Michael Grant, Director of Schroder Investment Management International Ltd. ``I suspect the market will continue to consolidate through the summer and, as interest rate concerns ease and the demand picture for technology remain robust, we will see rallies through the autumn,'' he said. Share prices on Nasdaq have declined sharply from their highs earlier this year partly over fears of higher interest rates in the U.S. Recent economic data pointing to slowing of the U.S. economy has restored some investor interest in the stock markets. On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite index (^IXIC - news) climbed 2.21 percent or 83.15 points to 3851.07, as investors turned bullish about the near-term outlook for big technology companies. The fund manager said he expected a majority of new high-profile communications and Internet-related firms to fall out of market favour in three to four years. Although he was bullish on general technology stocks, he believed some companies in the sector would face intense competition from traditional businesses embracing the Internet in the next few years. ``NOT ALL TELECOM COMPANIES WOULD DO WELL'' ``Not all telecom companies would do well. If you take the largest 10 communications companies in Asia today, I would guess 50 percent or half of them would not be major players in three or four years time. That is how significant the change will be,'' he told Reuters in an interview. Grant said, however, that Schroder's $180 million global technology fund had gained about 10 percent so far this year and it had outperformed the Nasdaq Stock Market by about 15 percent. He said 50-55 percent of the Schroder technology fund were invested in U.S. technology stocks, 30-35 percent in similar European equities, and another 10 percent in Asian issues. In Thailand, Schroder operates three fixed income and two equity investment funds worth a combined $90 million, of which one is a $3.3 million technology fund launched in March. Douglas Cairns, chief investment officer of Schroder's Nakornthon Schroder Asset Management Ltd unit, said his Thai technology fund retreated about 18.3 percent in the past three months roughly tracking losses on Nasdaq over the same period. Grant said among the Internet-related firms, he would recommend investors to avoid new dotcom companies that showed little profitability prospects. He said: ``I would avoid the pure dotcom companies within the Internet group. These are shares without the real or sustainable business model. Profitability does count in technology as in any other industry and if you don't have that profitability, you can't finance the growth in longer term.'' The fund manager said the rallies of Asian technology stocks in late 1999 had been over-extended, leading to their sharp corrections this year. ``I think all of the Asian countries overhyped technology shares at the end of last year...in some countries, we are near the bottoms today like in Thailand and Taiwan. In other countries, I suspect the bear market will continue until the end of this year, in Hong Kong and Japan,'' he said. Grant forecast, however, that technology stocks would return as market favourites in Asia late this year when U.S. market volatility eases. ``By the end of this year, most of the risks will be out, and across Asia, technology will again be the leading sector,'' he said. biz.yahoo.com