Conferencing in 20th Century's war zone - Twentieth Century Mutual Funds' use of the Coherent ConferenceMaster videoconferencing system - Product Information

Communications News, Feb, 1996

The financial market can be something of a war zone, requiring careful strategic planning, constant maneuvering and excellent communications. Kansas City-based Twentieth Century Mutual Funds, with more than $43 billion under management, is a dynamic player in the mutual fund market, using technology to the hilt to help increase its share of this competitive business. At the heart of its planning operation is its "war room" - the place where the portfolio teams plan their campaign strategy, as well as conduct regular communications with the New York office.

Twentieth Century currently has seven portfolio teams, each of which is responsible for managing up to three equity mutual funds. The firm takes a highly disciplined approach to the whole business of fund management, using a unique computer program developed some 20 years earlier by its chairman, James Stowers Jr. This forms the backbone of what is regarded as Twentieth Century's remarkable ability to pick top-performing "growth" stocks, blending the science of quantitative analysis with basic research. As a result of this approach, the "war room" is literally packed with technology-with full access to the firm's host computer system, external information resources and a state-of-the-art teleconferencing system.

Meetings take place in the war room on a weekly basis, giving the teams a chance to discuss and monitor each of the securities held within a portfolio. Two horseshoe-shaped tables equipped with PCs provide the focal point, with projections and charts displayed on a large screen to one side. The specially designed room is the nerve center for all of the action. Feeds come in from outside vendors, such as Reuters, giving up-to-the-minute data on stock movements and performance.

An important element of the planning and discussion process is the ability to communicate easily with the firm's New York office, where the international portfolio team is based. This means having access to a top-quality conferencing system, in this case the Coherent ConferenceMaster full duplex unit.

Steve Chandler, Twentieth Century's vice president of research, explains, "Our business is really an "information" business. The winners in this industry are those investment managers who get the right information - perhaps on a company's earnings or operations - quickly, and move that information through the organization just as quickly and precisely. When we have portfolio managers who are working 1,500 miles away, it's hard to overstate the importance of a first-class teleconferencing system."

Typically, the teams conference each week for an average of five hours per meeting. With up to six people in Kansas City often talking with as many in New York, this is their regular chance to exchange research data, cross-fertilize ideas regarding new investment opportunities and monitor foreign markets. The unit has been facilitating this crucial process for the past three years.

A major feature of the system is its full duplex performance, benefiting from acoustic echo cancellation technology. This removes the multiple acoustic echoes which occur in a typical conference room, maintaining a clean, stable communications path. Also noteworthy are the system's excellent microphone pick-up and high quality speaker, which ensure that there is no speech distortion, irrespective of who is speaking from where in the room. Direct benefits of this approach are good quality and clear communications, with everybody able to interrupt freely, move around the room at will and generally concentrate on talking naturally.

Twentieth Century currently has a staff of some 2,000, most of whom work in the company's offices in the Kansas City area. In addition, Twentieth Century has a half-dozen marketing offices spread around the country. Another location was added in June 1995, when Twentieth Century acquired The Benham Group, a mutual fund company located near San Jose, Calif.

Teleconferencing played a major role in achieving a smooth transition between the two firms. Another of Twentieth Century's ConferenceMaster units was used extensively during the various discussion stages of the merger, as attorneys and senior executives planned the integration of the companies.

The system's ease of use was an important asset, with everyone being able to use the ConferenceMaster easily and quickly, again leaving them free to concentrate on the business at hand, rather than the conferencing process itself.

Managed growth and a belief in technology go hand-in-hand at Twentieth Century Mutual Funds, as the firm continues on a rapid upward trend. Currently the 15th largest complex in the mutual fund industry, Twentieth Century is without doubt one of the principal niche players in this business. As they continue to succeed in one of the most rapidly changing sectors of the market, buying high P/E stocks of companies showing fast growth patterns, it is hardly surprising that they rely on a war room and the latest computing and communications technology to give them an additional edge.