American Century turns to advisers

In an effort to reverse outflows and attract new assets, American Century Investments is stepping up its efforts to sell mutual funds through financial advisers. The Kansas City, Mo.-based fund company plans to sell 12 additional funds — including its biggest, Ultra — through advisers only. The move will bring to 39 the number of funds in the adviser-sold lineup. In addition, American Century plans to standardize the pricing of all its funds sold through investment professionals by adding share classes. If fund shareholders approve, the changes will take effect in November. The moves come as American Century is seeing an increasingly bigger proportion of its assets coming through intermediaries. “That’s the growth engine of our company, and we want to make sure that we have a well-diversified product line for that audience,” said Jill Farrell, director of marketing for national accounts at American Century. For the full report, see the upcoming June 4 issue of InvestmentNews.