An Internet fund by any other name ....

Shhh.... Don't use the "I" word. At least not around the offices of the Monument Funds Group in Bethesda, Md.

Last week, the folks who run the once-red-hot Monument Internet Fund announced they had dropped "Internet" from its name. It's now called the Monument Digital Technology Fund. (Federal regulators are expected to approve the name change soon.)

According to Monument Funds officials, the reason for the change is to take advantage of new opportunities in expanding digital technologies. There's also an element of "truth in advertising," they point out, since the fund has gradually shifted away from pure-play dotcom firms to digital-technology companies.

Still, it's no secret on Wall Street that investors are now wary of anything purely Internet-linked. The Internet fund group has hit the skids this year, according to information firm Morningstar Inc., in Chicago. The Monument Internet Fund, which was up 273 percent in 1999, is down by roughly 40 percent through Oct 31.

Early last week, the deLeon Internet 100 Fund told shareholders that it was closing up shop, after failing to attract sufficient cash inflows to justify operating. And earlier this year, the Investors Capital Internet Fund became the Investors Capital Internet & Technology Fund.

Will other Internet funds soon morph into something new? Stay tuned.

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