Garrett Van Wagoner is not letting the bear market get in the way of his fund complex's expansion. The firm is readying a new mid-cap growth fund for launch next year and has instituted a annual fee on accounts with less than $2,500 in assets, reports Reuters. The new fund will be dubbed Growth Opportunities, according to an SEC registration filing.

Van Wagoner funds typically invest in stocks of quickly growing companies. In the late 1990s that meant the firm was heavily weighted in technology stocks.

Despite the crash (in both the market and its fund assets) the firm said in the filing that it would continue to invest in innovative new firms through the fund. Investors pulled $140 million from the fund family in 2002 on top of the $64 million they pulled out in 2001, according to estimates from FRC. Van Wagoner Capital Management's asset base has fallen to $300 million from a peak of $2.7 billion at the end of 1999.

To boost revenues in the face of the asset decline, Van Wagoner has instituted an annual fee of $24 for accounts with balances below $2,500.  

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