In mid-July Fidelity Investments' Magellan Fund sailed serenely past the $100 billion mark in assets.

As the largest existing mutual fund, Magellan is bigger than all stock mutual funds combined were in 1984 and bigger than the entire fund industry in 1979. Its assets are larger than the gross domestic product of Ireland and every state budget in the U.S.

The London International Financial Futures & Options Exchange has recently launched a bevy of options and futures contracts on European indexes from both FTSE International and Morgan Stanley Capital International.

The FTSE International indexes have gone through some dramatic changes recently with the introduction of a new global classification system, and it looks like more index alterations are lurking around the corner.

As of July 1, 1999, FTSE reclassified the FT/S&P-Actuaries World Indices according to its new global industry classification system. The system was introduced in stages to the FTSE European and UK index series earlier this year.

Wilshire Associates Inc., provider of the Wilshire 5000 index, has renamed some of its index series. The changes do not affect the construction or methodology of the indexes themselves.

Socially responsible investing and indexed investing are two trends that have developed fairly wide followings in recent years. It's not surprising then that some fund management companies have combined the two methods. What may be a tad surprising though, is the fact that these hybrid funds have performed so well.

Domini

Standard & Poor's and the Toronto Stock Exchange began distributing their latest Canadian indexes in real-time on May 14. The S&P/TSE Canadian MidCap Index and the S&P/TSE Canadian SmallCap Index have 60 and 180 component stocks, respectively.

The Nasdaq-Amex Market Group began trading options on The CSFB Technology Index (Amex: CTN) on June 23.

Listed on the American Stock Exchange, this new equity index consists of 75 actively traded companies including 50 of the largest U.S.-listed technology stocks plus 25 technology stocks selected by the Credit Suisse Technology Group to add diversification by sector.

On July 27, Dow Jones Indexes launched its Asia Pacific Extra Liquid Series (AP/ELS), which currently includes indexes based on Australia, Hong Kong and Japan.

Dow Jones AP/ELS is a set of equity indexes designed for retail and institutional investors seeking index-linked investments in the Asia Pacific region. The indexes are constructed using the largest, most liquid stocks in each country's market. They were designed with the assistance of the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE).