Fund Subscription Periods Provide IPO-Like Thrill but Not the Gains

Looks like mutual fund investors can have initial public offering fever, too.

As a slew of IPOs this quarter have posted triple-digit gains right out of the gate, three mutual funds, Hambrecht & Quist IPO and Emerging Company, PaineWebber Strategy and Jacob Internet, each have raised mountains of money in IPO-like subscription offerings.

Boffo Fourth-Quarter Fund Launches
Fund	Subscription period	Assets raised (in millions)
Hambrecht & Quist IPO and Emerging Company	Sept. 23-Oct. 28	$177
PaineWebber Strategy	Oct. 11-Nov. 29	2,100
Jacob Internet	Nov. 29-Dec. 13	92
Source: Companies

...