Some Growth Funds That Take a Low-Tech Approach

It's deja vu all over again.

Investors rejoiced in 2003 as the Nasdaq rose 50% and the S&P 500 climbed 33%. Money poured into growth funds: Large-cap growth funds topped the list of inflows in 2003, with $42.4 billion in net new money, according to AMG Data Services. Small-cap growth funds took in $24.4 billion, the third highest category for inflows.

Once again, though, investors seem to have confused the terms "technology" and "growth" -- the former is a subset of the latter, not a synonym. "It's not a prerequisite of growth funds to be invested heavily in technology," says Jeff Tjornehoj, an analyst at Lipper, a Reuters company. "All the headlines of 1999 notwithstanding." And now that technology is flagging in early 2004, investors are left scurrying for other options. ...