
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 1, 1995                   TAG: 9506010063
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INVESTMENT FIRM CHAIRMAN TALKS MUTUAL FUND STRATEGY

The chairman of Evergreen investment funds said he believes the economy is due for a "soft but potentially slightly bumpy landing."

Stephen A. Lieber, who also is chairman of Evergreen Asset Management Corp. of Purchase, N.Y., said in an interview Wednesday that some sectors of the stock market are "somewhat overheated."

But he called this a rotational market with "corrections" that affect some sectors but not the entire market. An example, he said, was Tuesday's drop in the previously hot technology stocks.

Lieber made the comments during one of several sessions in Roanoke and Blacksburg for customers of First Union National Bank of Virginia. First Union Corp. acquired the Evergreen family of mutual funds last June.

"First Union has a program to expand investor awareness of our funds," Lieber said. All First Union mutual funds will become Evergreen funds in July.

Included in the audience were operators of companies who said their employee retirement plans are invested in Evergreen funds. Lieber said Evergreen handles funds for 401(k) plans, retirement plans, university endowments and charitable trusts in addition to individuals.

The key to investing in the stock market now, as always, is selectivity, Lieber said.

In judging a mutual fund, he said, an investor should look at the underlying stock portfolio. "You can't feel entirely comfortable with the portfolio largely made up of the high-flying stocks of the recent market," he said. Such a fund is vulnerable.

On the other hand, he said, you don't want to invest in a fund with the "dullest" stocks either.

The portfolio, he said, should be made up of stocks with "growth opportunity [that is] conservatively valued."

The investor then must seek a fund whose goals match his own investment objective. Evergreen, for instance, offers 16 different funds.

"If you pick the best stock in the world, you can't beat that" by investing in a mutual fund, Lieber said. The problem is picking that single best stock.

Mutual funds, Lieber said, are designed for people with little time to study the markets in detail. With a minimum investment of $1,000, Lieber said, they offer diversity to people without much money to invest.

Mutual funds also can be rewarding, he said. Anyone who invested $100,000 in his first fund when it was established in 1971, Lieber said, would hold $3.7 million today.

by CNB