Sharp increase in cash flows would reduce fund’s return, COO says

Northwest Mutual Funds Inc. today announced its intention to close the Northwest Specialty High Yield Bond Fund, effective January 15, 2005.

The fund will be closed to new purchases, but will remain open for: purchases of the fund as part of the Northwest Quadrant Portfolio asset allocation service; existing pre-authorized payment plans; and automatically reinvested distributions.

The news comes after Northwest announced in December the closing of the Northwest Specialty Equity Fund, also effective January 15, 2005.

“Both Northwest and the portfolio manager feel that conditions within the high yield bond sector are such that a sharp increase in cash flows into the Fund would dilute the Fund’s returns,” said Michael Butler, president and COO, Northwest Mutual Funds, in a release. “we felt that closing the Fund to new investors provides us with the best opportunity to continue producing better returns with less risk.”

The company said it reserves the right to reopen the fund at a future date.