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12
At last, an afhrmative
action mutual fund
EMerrill Lynch has
created a mutual fund that
is based on the principles
of diversity and equal
opportunity. No longer do
African Americans have to
put money in businesses
that do not necessarily look
upon them as equals.
es, we are starting to become
rather intelligent and sophis
ticated about our economic eq
uity. The National Black
Chamber of Commerce gives a well
deserved “salute” to Merrill Lynch for
recently creating a mutual fund that is
based on the principles of diversity
and equal opportunity. No longer do
we have to put money in businesses
that do not necessarily look upon us as
equals. As Merill Lynch says, “A prin
cipled way to invest” is what this De
fined Asset Funds portfoliois all about.
As you might suspect, Nations Bank
or Denny’s didn’t make it. The ex
tremely racist laden company known as
US West is certainly notincluded within
the portfolio. Merrill Lynch has se
lected 25 outstanding corporations from
a three-part screening process. The
process follows:
Part I. Screening for Principle.
Our universe of stocks began with the
Domini 400 Social Index. This index
represents stocks that have been
screened on a broad range of issues,
such as the environment, community
involvement, product safety and other
concerns. Companies in the Domini
400 Social Index derive little or no rev
enue from the manufacturing of tobacco
or alcohol products, gambling activities
or military contracting, and have no
ownership in nuclear power.
Part II: A Commitment to Diver
sity. Selected companies possess
strength in areas such as:
QCEO. The company’s chief execu
tive officer is a woman or a member of a
minority group.
OPromotion. The company has
made notable progress in the promo
tion of women and minorities.
By Harry Alford,
President, National Black
Chamber of Commerce
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Merril Lynches Defined Asset Portfolio consists of 25 stocks of compa
nies that have met goals in diversity, environmental responsibility
and sensitivitie to social issues.
QOBoard of Directors. Women, mi
norities and/or disabled persons have a
significant presence on the board of
directors.
QOFamily Concerns. The company
has outstanding employee benefits or
other programs addressing work and
modern family concerns, such as child
and elder care, as well as flexible work
ing schedules.
OWomen and Minority-Owned
Businesses. The company maintains
at least 5% of its subcontracts with
women or minority-owned businesses.
QOEmployment of the Disabled.
The company hasimplemented innova
tive hiring programs, or other creative
human resource programs for disabled
persons.
A stock may be sold if the Portfolio
Consultant determines thatit no longer
meets the above criteria.
Part III: Investment Merit. Stocks
that passed the previous screens were
then reviewed using the Defined Asset
Funds proprietary selection process,
which includes criteria such as recent
price performance, price to earnings
ratio, and dividend yield. From the
universe of stocks meeting the criteria,
25 stocks were finally chosen for the
Portfolio.
Now let’s look at those 25 selected
companies by industry:
OFinancial Services: Fifth Third
Bancorp; First Chicago NBD Corpo
ration; Household International, Inc.;
and PNC Bank Corporation.
OTelecommunications: Ameritech
Corporation, Bell South Corporation,
Frontier Corporation, and SBC Com
munications, Inc.
OManufacturing: American
Greetings Corporation; Mattel, Inc.;
Maytag Corporation; and The Stanley
Works.
OMedical: Guidant Corporation,
Johnson & Johnson, and Schering-
Biack imvestors
conference brings
Wall §t. to Main St
“Get in the black, enjoy the good
life, and leave your children a legacy
of wealth. With planning, African
Americans can attain these goals,”
said Duane Davis, founder of the
Coalition of Black Investors (COBI).
“But we must save and invest more
aggressively, get smart about stocks,
bonds, and mutual funds, and begin
now tc build our nest eggs.”
COBI invites African Americans to
seize the power of investing — from
stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to
private companies, real estate, and
art — at the First Black Investors
Conference, September 18-19, in
Washington, D.C. The agenda in
cludes information-packed work
shops, financial analysts, portfolio
managers, and valuable networking
opportunities.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, president of
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, willkeynote
the conference’s September 18 lun
cheon. Rev. Jackson established the
Wall Street Project in 1997 to urge
corporations to expand economic op
portunities for minorities and women.
Other speakers include Dennis
Kimbro, author of Think and Grow
Rich: A Black Choice; Cheryl
Broussard, author andinvestment ad
viser; Alfred Edmond, executive edi
tor of Black Enterprise magazine,
Debra Lee, president of BET Hold
ings Inc., and others
The Coalition of Black Investors is a
unique economic network thataims to
increase black participation in the
capital markets, enhance financial lit
eracy, link African American inves
tors, and promote the formation of
investment clubs. COBI's member
ship includes individual investors, in
vestment professionals, investment
clubs, and publicly traded corpora
tions.
Plough Corporation.
QConsumer Staples: Kellogg
Company and Quaker Oats Company.
Ollnformation Services: Dow
Jones & Company, Inc. and McGraw-
Hill Companies, Inc.
QAirlines: Southwest Airlines Co.
Qlnsurance: Lincoln National Cor
poration.
QOffice Supplies: Avery Dennison
Corporation.
ONursing Homes: Manor Care, Inc.
QORestaurants: McDonald’s Corpo
ration.
QORetail/Apparel: The Limited, Inc.
Please consider divesting in compa
nies that do not make “our grade.” Let
us support Merrill Lynch and the “af
firmative action companies” it has
pooled together for wise portfolio in
vesting.
For more information, call Larry
Ivory at Merrill Lynch: 800-747-6669,
fax 309-674-0984.