Bear Stearns is entering a crowded market already populated by Charles Schwab , Fidelity Investments and Jack White. Their popular supermarkets allow investors to select a basket of funds from several fund groups through a single account. The three also offer supermarkets that carry strictly no-load funds and have no transaction fees. Bear Stearns isn't creating new business opportunities to generate business. It's being defensive to keep the brokers they have from going to Charles Schwab.
Competition is stiff.
No fund company has actually signed yet, but Ms. Abysalh says she recently sent contracts to several she declined to name. Bear Stearns hasn't determined how many funds it wants to make available in the supermarket, Ms. Abysalh says, but the company's own family of six funds naturally will be available. DLJ's Pershing, for instance, offers 560 no-load funds from 63 fund groups. Bear Stearns will leave it up to its broker-dealers to set minimum account sizes and annual fee structures for investors. Customers will be charged transaction fees if they sell their mutual-fund shares between three and six months after buying them, Ms. Abysalh says.