Successful Internet Fund Sold

Kinetics Asset Management’s mutual fund The Internet Fund has been sold to New York investment firm LePercq, de Neuflize & Co., for an undisclosed amount.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the hugely successful fund will continue to be managed by Ryan Jacob. Jacob, the former research director at the IPO Value Monitor, has run the fund since it first began with $200,000 in assets in 1998. Its assets are now estimated to be $270 million.

The Internet Fund was closed to new investment as of March 15, after selling all its available shares, but an additional 40 million shares are scheduled to be issued on March 29.

The fund was first started by a retired school official, Margaret Doyle, computer programmer Leonid Polyakov, and money manager Francis
Alexander, which barely made a profit initially.

The Internet Fund specializes in media and e-commerce companies that gain most of their revenues from the Internet, rather than purely tech firms, according to Jacob. He said tech companies are too competitive and have “predatory” pricing. Jacob generally takes a long-term approach.

Company stocks include Geocities, Excite, Yahoo! and CMG Information. There is even an Internet Fund Fan Club Web site, extolling the virtues of Jacob and the fund.

The fund shot up in 1998, and soared 318 percent in 12 months
ending Wednesday, according to Lipper Analytical.

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