Even venerable brokerage Merrill Lynch can't keep an Internet mutual fund alive.

Even venerable brokerage Merrill Lynch can't keep an Internet mutual fund alive. Just a year after its Internet Strategies Fund was created, the investment bank plans to merge it into its Global Technology Fund. Internet Strategies joins a growing number of Internet funds that have closed or shifted their portfolios. Merrill Lynch's closure of Internet Strategies is the highest profile termination of an Internet fund to date. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, Merrill said shareholders will vote on the Internet Strategies-Global Technology merger Aug. 31. The Internet Strategies Fund made a big splash in March 2000 when it jumped into the scene with $1.1 billion raised in its two-week initial offering period. But Merrill Lynch couldn't have picked a worse time to launch the Internet-specific fund. The Internet bubble began to deflate over the spring and summer, and finally burst last fall. In early 2000 there were 40 Internet mutual funds, but since then the number has dropped to about 30. From its date of inception, March 20, 2000, through Thursday, Internet Strategies lost 71.6 percent. That's even worse than the average performance of the remaining 30 Internet funds, which were down 66.6 percent for the same period, according to data from Lipper Analytical, which evaluates funds.