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SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS FOR NORTH AMERICAN FUNDS
Dated March 1, 1999, as revised May 13, 1999
On July 6, 1999, Credit Suisse Group ("Credit Suisse") acquired the parent
companies of Warburg Pincus Asset Management, Inc. ("Warburg"), the subadviser
to the Emerging Growth Fund. As a result of this transaction, Warburg and other
existing Credit Suisse asset management businesses were reorganized into a new
Credit Suisse subsidiary, Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC ("CSAM"). Under
this new arrangement, CSAM is the subadviser to the Emerging Growth Fund, and
continues to employ Elizabeth B. Dater and Stephen J. Lurito as co-managers of
the Fund. CSAM's principal business address is 153 East 53rd Street, New York,
New York, 10022.
July 29, 1999