To the Shareholders and
Audit Committee of the
HSBC Investor Advisor Funds Trust (formerly Republic
Advisor Funds Trust):
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of the HSBC Investor Advisor Funds Trust - HSBC Investor Fixed
Income Fund, HSBC Investor International Equity Fund, and HSBC
Investor Small Cap Equity Fund, for the year ended October 31,
2000, we considered its internal control, including control
activities for safeguarding securities, in order to determine
our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our
opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the
requirements of Form N-SAR, not to provide assurance on
internal control.
The management of the HSBC Investor Advisor Funds Trust
is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal
control. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates
and judgments by management are required to assess the
expected benefits and related costs of controls.
Generally, controls that are relevant to an audit pertain
to the entity's objective of preparing financial statements
for external purposes that are fairly presented in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America. Those controls include the safeguarding
of assets against unauthorized acquisition, use, or
disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control,
errors or fraud may occur and not be detected. Also,
projection of any evaluation of internal control to
future periods is subject to the risk that it may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of the design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not necessarily
disclose all matters in internal control that might be
material weaknesses under standards established by the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A
material weakness is a condition in which the design or
operation of one or more internal control components does
not reduce to a relatively low level the risk that
misstatements caused by error or fraud in amounts that
would be material in relation to the financial statements
being audited may occur and not be detected within a timely
period by employees in the normal course of performing
their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters
involving internal control and its operation, including
controls for safeguarding securities, that we consider
to be material weaknesses as defined above as of October
31, 2000.
This report is intended solely for the information and use
of management, the Audit Committee of the HSBC Investor
Advisor Funds Trust and the Securities and Exchange
Commission and is not intended to be and should not be
used by anyone other than these specified parties.
Columbus, Ohio
December 8, 2000
