<PAGE> 1
September 30, 2000
ANNUAL
REPORT
[BERGER FUNDS LOGO]
BERGER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FUND
BERGER NEW GENERATION FUND
BERGER SELECT FUND
BERGER SMALL COMPANY GROWTH FUND
BERGER SMALL CAP VALUE FUND
BERGER MID CAP GROWTH FUND
BERGER MID CAP VALUE FUND
BERGER GROWTH FUND
BERGER INTERNATIONAL FUND
BERGER GROWTH AND INCOME FUND
BERGER BALANCED FUND
<PAGE> 2
Berger Funds are presenting a combined annual report which includes Berger
Information Technology Fund, Berger New Generation Fund, Berger Select
Fund, Berger Small Company Growth Fund, Berger Small Cap Value Fund, Berger Mid
Cap Growth Fund, Berger Mid Cap Value Fund, Berger Growth Fund,
Berger International Fund, Berger Growth and Income Fund and Berger Balanced
Fund. This report reflects the financial position of each Fund at September 30,
2000 and the results of their operations and changes in their net assets and
financial highlights for the periods indicated, in a single document.
<PAGE> 3
Berger Funds 3
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Table of Contents
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<TABLE>
<S> <C>
A Message To Our Shareholders ............................................. 4
BERGER FUNDS
Berger Information Technology Fund ........................................ 6
Berger New Generation Fund ................................................ 10
Berger Select Fund ........................................................ 15
Berger Small Company Growth Fund .......................................... 18
Berger Small Cap Value Fund ............................................... 23
Berger Mid Cap Growth Fund ................................................ 28
Berger Mid Cap Value Fund ................................................. 32
Berger Growth Fund ........................................................ 36
Berger International Fund ................................................. 40
Berger Growth and Income Fund ............................................. 42
Berger Balanced Fund ...................................................... 46
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND NOTES
Statements of Assets and Liabilities ...................................... 50
Statements of Operations .................................................. 52
Statements of Changes in Net Assets ....................................... 54
Berger International Fund Financial Statements ............................ 58
Berger Funds Notes to Financial Statements ................................ 60
Berger International Portfolio Financial Statements ....................... 67
(to be read in conjunction with the Berger International Fund)
Berger International Portfolio Notes to Financial Statements .............. 72
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS ...................................................... 74
Report of Independent Accountants ......................................... 82
Other Matters (Unaudited) ................................................. 83
</TABLE>
To obtain a prospectus for any of the Berger Funds, which contains more complete
information, including risks, fees and expenses, call (800) 551-5849. Please
read it carefully before you invest. Berger Distributors LLC - Distributor
www.bergerfunds.com
<PAGE> 4
4
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
A Message To Our
Shareholders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Berger Investor:
With apologies to Charles Dickens, this past fiscal year, which ended September
30, was "the best of times and it was the worst of times."
The period began with the December quarter of 1999, during which the U.S. stock
market moved smartly higher, led by substantial gains in technology stocks.
Investor enthusiasm for tech stocks was fueled by accelerating revenue and
earnings growth, which were driven by the rapid build-out of the Internet and
aggressive deployment of e-commerce initiatives by both new-economy companies
and established Fortune 1000 "brick and mortar" companies.
Repeated increases in interest rates and warnings from the Federal Reserve Board
that above-trend economic growth was increasing the risk of inflation were no
deterrent through most of the first quarter of 2000. A correction finally got
under way in March, gathered steam and ultimately took the tech-heavy NASDAQ
Composite Index down 37% by the end of May. Then, on increasing evidence that
economic growth was slowing, a consensus developed that the Federal Reserve had
largely completed the cycle of raising interest rates. Stocks were able to
rally, with fits and starts, through the end of August. After Labor Day, though,
sentiment deteriorated because of earnings concerns. High energy prices also
added to fears that the slowdown in the economy might end in recession rather
than a soft landing. The correction in technology stocks resumed and continued
through the September fiscal year-end, exacerbated by negative earnings
pre-announcements from some high-profile tech companies such as Intel and
Lucent.
The Main Event
Technology has been so much the main event in the stock market over the past two
years that it seems as if it is the only event, and with good reason. The
current, record-setting economic expansion that began early in the decade,
accelerated in the later 1990s and continues today, has been driven by capital
spending, and the share of that spending going to investment in technology has
been increasing. These trends have culminated in substantial productivity gains,
enabling the economy to grow more rapidly without provoking inflation than at
any other time in the post-war era.
Deregulation here and abroad, democratization and privatization around the globe
and freer trade have stimulated global economic growth and opportunities for
businesses everywhere. These factors have also intensified the level of
competition that businesses face, leaving companies with little or no pricing
power. This is driving investment in technology to improve efficiency and
results. These investments are continuing at a rapid rate as companies strive to
gain any possible competitive advantage.
Valuation Correction
We see the correction we have experienced in technology stocks as largely a
correction in valuations. Even though we have seen some evidence of slowing
growth in some areas of technology, such as sales of wireless handsets, PC's and
some semiconductor equipment and components, we believe that the correction is
not a reflection of a significant deterioration in the fundamentals that drove
the prior advance. Many key areas of technology are still exhibiting very strong
growth. The larger issue is that valuations of tech stocks became very high as
the market discounted their high growth rates and bright futures. At high
valuation levels, any real or perceived weakness in earnings or future growth
prospects has a pronounced negative effect on prices.
Any general uncertainty about the economy, or the outcome of the elections or in
the direction of interest rates also may cause investors to shorten their time
horizons. This too, has a negative effect on growth stock prices since growth
stocks in general, and technology stocks in particular, are priced to a great
extent on future as opposed to present sales and earnings. This is why we have
written in the past that we expect a higher level of volatility in the market
and that a correction can be a healthy thing for the long-term investor.
Corrections return great, leading growth stocks to attractive valuation levels
and purge the market of excessive speculation, which can reset the stage for a
renewed and sustainable advance.
Capital Gains
A side effect of the market volatility we have experienced during the last year
will be apparent in the capital gains investors will see in 2000. With the
dramatic appreciation in many stocks during the year, portfolio managers often
recognized that selling a stock was prudent. Despite lowering overall turnover,
our managers occasionally found it necessary to sell stocks when some investors
redeemed shares during market downturns. The result has been larger than normal
capital gains for some of the funds. For more information on your fund's
estimated capital gains, visit our Website at www.bergerfunds.com or call (800)
551-5849.
Regardless of the short-term volatility in the market, we at Berger remain
committed to the same investment philosophy
<PAGE> 5
Berger Funds 5
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pioneered by Bill Berger more than 25 years ago. We know that achieving our goal
of providing investors with consistently competitive performance in every Berger
Fund can only be reached by adhering to our disciplined, fundamental,
stock-by-stock approach to investing and remaining focused on the long term.
Optimistic Outlook
We remain constructive on the outlook for the economy and the markets. The
economy has slowed to a healthy, sustainable growth rate. We believe the
technology-driven productivity revolution is alive and well. Inflation appears
to be very much under control, and interest rates may be poised to moderate.
Corporate earnings performance remains at a generally high level. In this
context, we view corrections as buying opportunities, and we encourage investors
to take a long-term approach by employing dollar-cost-averaging as a technique
to help smooth the effect of short-term market swings on their long-term
results.
Time-proven Basics
For more than 25 years we have advocated basic investment principles to our
investors:
o Time and diversification are an investor's greatest allies against risk.
o Those who take a long-term view are often the most successful investors.
o Investing regularly is an excellent way to reach one's financial goals.
o It's time in the market, not market timing, that counts most.
Sincerely,
/s/ JACK R. THOMPSON /s/ JAY W. TRACEY
Jack R. Thompson Jay W. Tracey
President Chief Investment Officer
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Dollar-cost-averaging does not assure a profit or protect against a loss in
declining markets.
This material must be preceded or accompanied by a prospectus.
Berger Distributors LLC - Member NASD. (11/00)
<PAGE> 6
6
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol - Investor Shares BINVX
- Institutional Shares BINFX
Fund Number - Investor Shares 912
- Institutional Shares 913
Berger Information
Technology Fund PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY WILLIAM F. K. SCHAFF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Information Technology Fund (the "Fund") gained 114.97% (investor
shares) and 115.86% (institutional shares) for the fiscal year ended September
30, 2000. Its benchmark, the Wilshire 5000 Index,(1) gained 17.56% over the same
period.
The technology sector outshone all others for the first half of the fiscal year,
before high volatility roiled the sector, shaking the confidence of many
technology investors and driving down prices. Since that time, Internet and
e-commerce companies have taken the biggest hit. On the upside, technologies
that drive corporate Information Technology (IT), including optical networking
technology and wireless components, infrastructure and applications continued to
experience strong growth.
Last year--1999--was a time of euphoria when the stock of almost any
technology-related company with an exciting story would rise unconditionally.
Next year is likely to be a year when investors get back to solid fundamentals
and valuations. It appears that 2000 will be remembered as a time of confusion
as investors deal with the transition.
Period in Review
Clearly, technology is a much stronger force in the economy than ever before,
but speculation is still speculation, whether in real estate or the stock
market. Having said that, there are still many technology companies that are not
overpriced. Now that more of the nonprofitable technology companies using
acronyms such as B2C, B2B and B2B2C are filing with their local bankruptcy
court, we can focus on more profitable businesses. We always look for the start
of IBM's new upgrade cycle because the economic benefits seem to trickle down to
many other companies. One group of potential beneficiaries are mainframe
software vendors. Stocks of these companies have been beaten down tremendously
but still generate solid cash flows and have pristine balance sheets--not bad
defensive characteristics.
The Fund experienced strong gains by investing primarily in profitable companies
with longer performance track records. Applied Micro Circuits was a strong
performer all year, in addition to storage vendors Network Appliance and EMC.
Our largest position, BEA Systems, the leading middleware applications
integrator, also performed well.
We maintained large positions in e-commerce application integrators and supply
chain software vendors such as i2 and Manugistics. We think of this as the glue
that makes e-commerce work and that has contributed much to the productivity
gains seen to date. We believe some of these investments will be both short- and
long-term, as e-commerce will continue to be a growing part of our lives.
Though the Fund has few direct Internet plays, it does contain many of the
software companies that produce the required nuts and bolts of e-commerce
infrastructure, such as Oracle and Siebel Systems. The Fund benefited greatly
over the fiscal year from their presence.
On the downside, the few chips stocks we own were the weakest performers, but
not unexpectedly because they had been the best performers the first half of the
year. The biggest disappointment was Computer Associates, the largest
independent mainframe software vendor, which preannounced a weak quarter once
again. Another negative contributor to performance was Lucent Technologies, one
of the few "value" plays in technology, which continues to get cheaper. Despite
some of these performance setbacks, we continued to have more winners than
losers, and our top 10 positions, representing more than 30% of the portfolio,
were up strongly.
Summary
Looking ahead, we see signs that the economy will continue to slow. However,
technology will remain the largest weapon for businesses to increase
productivity and enhance their competitive position in the global marketplace.
One of the best-performing sectors for 2001 could be security and related
security vendors. As e-commerce grows, so will all the related security issues.
With the advent of digital certification, there will be greater concern for
privacy, authentication, authorization and certification. Leading-edge biometric
technologies will also finally become broadly commercially viable in
2001--expect to see some big announcements. However, given the confusion that is
likely to be rampant, homework will have to be done to differentiate winners and
losers once again.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The Wilshire 5000 Index measures the performance of all U.S.-headquartered
equity securities with readily available price data. More than 7,000
capitalization weighted security returns are used to adjust the index. One
cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 7
Berger Funds 7
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Performance Overview
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Information Technology Fund -
Investor Shares*
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Information Technology Fund;
Investor Shares vs. Wilshire 5000 Index
[GRAPH]
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 114.97%
Three Year 65.70%
Life of Fund (4/8/97) 68.74%
Berger Information Technology Fund-
Investor Shares $61,762
Wilshire 5000 Index $19,502
Berger Information Technology Fund -
Institutional Shares*
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Information Technology Fund;
Institutional Shares vs. Wilshire 5000 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 115.86%
Three Year 66.68%
Life of Fund (4/8/99) 69.60%
[GRAPH]
Berger Information Technology Fund-
Institutional Shares $1,571,631
Wilshire 5000 Index $487,555
* Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance shown
reflects the unusually favorable market conditions that existed in 1999 which
likely are not sustainable as market conditions change. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost. IPO's have made a significant contribution to
the Fund's recent performance. There can be no assurance that such contribution
will continue. Performance data for the Investor Shares include periods prior to
the adoption of class designations on July 2, 1999, and therefore do not reflect
the 0.25% per year 12b-1 fee applicable to the Investor Shares. This would have
reduced the Investor Shares' return.
<PAGE> 8
8
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Information
Technology Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.16%)
Commercial Services - Advertising (2.07%)
34,400 TMP Worldwide, Inc.* $ 2,769,200
------------
Commercial Services - Security/Safety (0.32%)
35,000 Indentix, Inc.* 425,250
------------
Computer - Integrated Systems (0.24%)
7,000 Henry (Jack) & Associates, Inc. 303,625
330 Wind River Systems, Inc.* 15,819
------------
319,444
------------
Computer - Local Networks (2.86%)
4,600 Brocade Communication Systems, Inc.* 1,085,600
73,380 Cabletron Systems, Inc.* 2,155,537
2,500 Cobalt Networks,Inc.* 144,687
3,630 Finisar Corp.* 175,601
2,000 Foundry Networks, Inc.* 133,875
1,430 JNI Corp.* 127,270
------------
3,822,570
------------
Computer - Manufacturers (5.20%)
6,800 Dell Computer Corp.* 209,525
1,500 Hewlett-Packard Co. 145,500
12,800 International Business Machines Corp. 1,440,000
26,015 Palm,Inc.* 1,377,169
32,460 Sun Microsystems, Inc.* 3,789,705
------------
6,961,899
------------
Computer - Memory Devices (9.02%)
56,230 EMC Corp.* 5,573,798
47,360 Network Appliance, Inc.* 6,032,480
6,900 Sandisk Corp.* 460,575
------------
12,066,853
------------
Computer - Peripheral Equipment (0.13%)
6,000 American Power Conversion Corp.* 115,125
4,000 SmartDisk Corp.* 57,500
------------
172,625
------------
Computer - Services (2.00%)
4,480 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. 299,600
14,800 Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. -
Class A* 577,200
1,570 Computer Sciences Corp.* 116,572
22,255 Electronic Data Systems Corp. 923,582
6,170 McDATA Corp. - Class B* 758,235
------------
2,675,189
------------
Computer Software - Desktop (0.83%)
5,700 Macromedia, Inc.* 460,631
2,700 Microsoft Corp.* 162,675
2,200 Red Hat, Inc.* 37,537
10,275 Symantec Corp.* 452,100
------------
1,112,943
------------
Computer Software - Educational/Entertainment (1.98%)
56,000 Smartforce PLC - Spon. ADR* 2,653,000
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.16%) - continued
Computer Software - Enterprise (15.91%)
20,800 Actuate Software Corp.* $ 718,575
5,640 Adobe Systems, Inc. 875,610
32,016 Computer Associates International, Inc. 806,403
25,000 Compuware Corp.* 209,375
1,000 E.piphany, Inc.* 77,062
13,593 Hyperion Solutions Corp.* 351,745
7,100 i2 Technologies, Inc.* 1,328,143
7,500 Manugistics Group, Inc.* 735,937
14,000 Mercury Interactive Corp.* 2,194,500
38,930 New Era of Networks, Inc.* 947,093
41,470 Oracle Corp.* 3,265,762
13,500 Peregrine Systems, Inc.* 255,656
14,600 Rational Software Corp.* 1,012,875
15,000 SAGA Systems, Inc.* 157,500
22,000 Seachange International, Inc.* 734,250
19,500 SERENA Software, Inc.* 898,218
27,800 Siebel Systems, Inc.* 3,094,487
25,495 VERITAS Software Corp.* 3,620,290
------------
21,283,481
------------
Computer Software - Finance (1.77%)
7,800 Advent Software, Inc.* 545,025
31,980 Intuit, Inc.* 1,822,860
------------
2,367,885
------------
Computer Software - Security (1.89%)
62,000 Axent Technologies, Inc.* 1,336,875
7,600 Check Point Software
Technologies Ltd.* 1,197,000
------------
2,533,875
------------
Diversified Operations (0.39%)
10,572 Agilent Technologies, Inc.* 517,367
------------
Electronics - Military Systems (0.13%)
4,500 General Motors Corp. - Class H* 167,310
------------
Electronics - Miscellaneous Components (0.77%)
32,800 RF Micro Devices, Inc.* 1,029,100
------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (12.61%)
10,200 Analog Devices, Inc.* 842,137
25,400 Applied Micro Circuits Corp.* 5,259,387
1,600 Broadcom Corp. - Class A* 390,000
19,000 Conexant Systems, Inc.* 795,625
7,000 Cypress Semiconductor Corp.* 290,937
7,000 Intel Corp. 290,937
38,000 LSI Logic Corp.* 1,111,500
48,600 Plexus Corp.* 3,426,300
3,400 PMC-Sierra, Inc.* 731,850
5,000 Silicon Image, Inc.* 124,062
39,640 Texas Instruments, Inc. 1,870,512
16,800 Triquint Semiconductor, Inc. 612,150
13,000 Xilinx, Inc.* 1,113,125
------------
16,858,522
------------
</TABLE>
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Berger Funds 9
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
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SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.16%) - continued
Financial Services - Miscellaneous (1.79%)
30,000 CheckFree Corp.* $ 1,256,718
29,150 First Data Corp. 1,138,671
------------
2,395,389
------------
Internet - E*Commerce (0.49%)
7,500 PurchasePro.com, Inc.* 659,062
------------
Internet - ISP/Content (1.01%)
4,060 Commerce One, Inc.* 318,710
3,400 Ibasis, Inc.* 53,975
1,000 Navisite, Inc.* 26,937
10,460 Yahoo!, Inc.* 951,860
------------
1,351,482
------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (9.04%)
5,000 724 Solutions, Inc.* 237,500
2,400 Alteon Websystems, Inc.* 260,137
45,500 Baltimore Technologies PLC - ADR* 898,625
20,000 Breakaway Solutions, Inc.* 178,125
650 CacheFlow, Inc.* 92,950
47,500 Cisco Systems, Inc.* 2,624,375
14,000 Exodus Communications, Inc.* 691,250
14,600 Juniper Networks, Inc.* 3,196,487
15,000 Network Associates, Inc.* 339,375
8,400 RSA Security, Inc.* 362,250
11,000 Sapient Corp.* 447,562
13,600 VeriSign, Inc.* 2,754,850
------------
12,083,486
------------
Internet - Software (9.02%)
5,200 Ariba, Inc.* 744,981
95,260 BEA Systems, Inc.* 7,418,372
30,300 Bluestone Software, Inc.* 526,462
4,155 BroadVision, Inc.* 106,212
11,000 Interwoven, Inc.* 1,243,687
14,000 Kana Communications, Inc.* 311,500
5,000 PC-Tel, Inc.* 116,250
6,650 Portal Software, Inc.* 266,000
4,700 SilverStream Software, Inc.* 141,587
11,733 Vignette Corp.* 350,523
7,270 Webmethods, Inc.* 836,958
------------
12,062,532
------------
Media - Cable TV (0.24%)
17,600 AT&T Corp. - Liberty Media
Group - Class A* 316,800
------------
Telecommunications - Cellular (0.75%)
21,460 Nextel Communications, Inc.
- Class A* 1,003,255
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.16%) - continued
Telecommunications - Equipment (12.84%)
57,428 ADC Telecommunications, Inc.* $ 1,544,274
520 Avanex Corp.* 55,997
39,560 Ciena Corp.* 4,858,462
4,600 Comverse Technology, Inc.* 496,800
8,200 Copper Mountain Networks, Inc.* 307,500
8,100 Corvis Corp.* 494,479
8,800 JDS Uniphase Corp.* 833,250
31,100 Lucent Technologies, Inc. 950,493
46,411 Motorola, Inc. 1,311,110
310 Next Level Communications, Inc. -
Class A* 20,498
40,560 Nokia Corp. - Spon. ADR 1,614,795
8,880 Nortel Networks Corp. 528,915
3,800 Redback Networks, Inc.* 622,962
11,200 Stratos Lightwave,Inc.* 361,200
9,871 Sycamore Networks, Inc.* 1,066,068
5,600 Turnstone Systems, Inc.* 259,700
27,920 Virata Corp.* 1,846,210
------------
17,172,713
------------
Telecommunications - Services (1.86%)
5,000 Illuminet Holdings, Inc.* 138,750
44,000 Intermedia Communications, Inc.* 1,298,000
10,548 Qwest Communications
International, Inc.* 506,962
10,300 Sonera Corp. - Spon. ADR 260,075
18,000 Winstar Communications, Inc.* 279,000
------------
2,482,787
------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $81,001,749) 127,264,019
------------
Repurchase Agreement (4.65%)
$6,216,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $6,219,274 on
October 2, 2000, collateralized by
FNMA Agency Note, 5.96% -
October 18, 2000 with a value of
$6,345,067 6,216,000
------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $6,216,000) 6,216,000
------------
Total Investments (Cost $87,217,749) (99.81%) 133,480,019
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (0.19%) 258,850
------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $133,738,869
------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
PLC - Public Limited Company.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 10
10
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol - Investor Shares BENGX
- Institutional Shares N/A
Fund Number - Investor Shares 344
Berger New - Institutional Shares 914
Generation Fund PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY MARK S. SUNDERHUSE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger New Generation Fund ("the Fund") had a very good fiscal year ended
September 30, 2000, gaining 67.16% (Investor Shares) and 65.68% (Institutional
Shares) compared with 13.27% for the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index(1) and
23.39% for the Russell 2000 Index.(2) This solid performance was primarily
driven by stock selection, although our relatively aggressive weightings in
technology, healthcare and energy also helped.
Period in Review
We remain focused on selecting those companies that have a fit in this
ever-changing world of business. When evaluating securities we first look for
growth, both in terms of revenues and earnings. Second, we look for companies
that have a defensible business plan. Finally, we seek signs of assurance that a
company's competitive position is strong and that its product or service can add
meaningful value to the end customer.
In technology, the Fund benefited from holdings in companies that supply
infrastructure for the Internet build-out. Component suppliers Applied Micro
Circuits, SDL Inc. and JDS Uniphase, and equipment supplier, Juniper Networks,
all did very well. We remain bullish on many of the component and equipment
companies that are supplying innovative, market-leading solutions to service
providers, which are, in turn, aggressively deploying those solutions to meet an
insatiable demand for increased bandwidth.
Companies supplying leading-edge software solutions that take advantage of the
Internet to deliver competitive advantages to their customers also contributed
to the Fund's good results. Among the better performers were i2 Technologies and
Ariba. These companies are in business-to-business software that helps users
expand their margins through better inventory control and purchasing. i2 and
Ariba are generalists that help a variety of businesses. Surveys of information
technology managers at major companies confirm that e-commerce spending, which
has been strong all year, should continue to grow rapidly for the foreseeable
future. We remain, therefore, optimistic about the outlook for select vendors of
e-commerce solutions. We continue to favor business-to-business e-commerce
companies, staying clear of the business-to-consumer companies that were hurt
most of the year.
The Fund's energy stocks, particularly in the oil field services area, were good
performers, including Enron, Grey Wolf, Anadarko Petroleum and Newfield
Exploration. Compared with our index, we continue to overweight this sector
because of the strong supply/demand fundamentals and the growth in "new
economy-type" utility companies.
We continue to believe that capital spending will be strong next year,
especially with fiber-optics companies. Communications service providers must
continue to spend if they wish to remain competitive. And the competitive
pressure has increased as the stock market has become more selective, favoring
those services companies that have proven growth prospects, such as Qwest
Communications International and Level 3 Communications.
In healthcare, our notable winners included leading-edge biotechnology companies
that have emerged, or are about to emerge, from the development phase with
successful new products that we believe will generate significant sales and
shareholder value. Strong performers over the year include Genentech, Immunex
and Invitrogen. Overall, we continue to remain positive on the outlook for this
sector.
Generally, the consumer sector was disappointing. In particular, the Fund's
radio broadcasting stocks were down as advertising revenues slowed over the
latter half of the fiscal year. Because of this, we sold Clear Channel
Communications. Stocks in the telecommunications industry were also down,
including Caprock, Teligent and Nextlink. The latter two companies were recently
sold. In addition, significant prior gains were given up in holdings such as
Next Level and Foundry Networks toward the end of the fiscal year.
Summary
Again, the Fund's good results were driven more by individual stock selection
than by the weighting given to various sectors. Because we employ a
fundamentally research-driven, bottom-up approach to portfolio management, the
Fund's results are consistent with our aggressive growth-oriented investment
philosophy. Every day presents us with new opportunities among small, mid- and
large-cap emerging growth stocks. Rarely have there been so many companies
addressing such open-ended business opportunities as there are today. So,
whether or not small-cap stocks outperform large caps, we look forward each day
to the prospect of identifying and investing in those that are on their way to
becoming widely recognized, established growth stocks in the future.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested, which
consists of the common stocks of 500 publicly traded U.S. companies. It is a
generally recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of the U.S.
stock market. One cannot invest directly in an index.
(2) The Russell 2000 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested,
which consists of the common stocks of 2000 U.S. companies. It is a generally
recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of small company
stocks. One cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 11
Berger Funds 11
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger New Generation Fund -
Investor Shares(*)
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger New Generation Fund;
Investor Shares vs. S&P 500 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 67.16%
Three Year 44.72%
Life of Fund (3/29/96) 41.02%
Berger New Generation Fund -
Investor Shares $47,122
S&P 500 Index $23,919
[GRAPH]
Berger New Generation Fund -
Institutional Shares(*)
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger New Generation Fund;
Institutional Shares vs. S&P 500 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 65.68%
Three Year 44.33%
Life of Fund (3/29/96) 40.76%
Berger New Generation Fund -
Institutional Shares $1,168,486
S&P 500 Index $597,962
[GRAPH]
* Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance shown
reflects the unusually favorable market conditions that existed in 1999 which
likely are not sustainable as market conditions change. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost. IPO's have made a significant contribution to
the Fund's recent performance. There can be no assurance that such contribution
will continue.
<PAGE> 12
12
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger New
Generation Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.20%)
Agricultural Operations (0.11%)
29,880 Eden Bioscience Corp.* $ 986,040
------------
Banks - West/Southwest (1.10%)
163,000 Silicon Valley Bancshares* 9,492,203
------------
Computer - Local Networks (2.42%)
26,840 Brocade Communication Systems, Inc.* 6,334,240
183,770 Foundry Networks, Inc.* 12,301,104
149,580 Tricord Systems, Inc.* 2,234,351
------------
20,869,695
------------
Computer - Manufacturers (1.73%)
24,930 Avici Systems, Inc.* 2,371,466
107,610 Sun Microsystems, Inc.* 12,563,467
------------
14,934,933
------------
Computer - Memory Devices (1.79%)
104,370 EMC Corp.* 10,345,676
49,870 StorageNetworks, Inc.* 5,096,090
------------
15,441,766
------------
Computer - Services (0.96%)
255,260 Internap Network Services* 8,248,088
------------
Computer Software - Enterprise (4.49%)
51,610 i2 Technologies, Inc.* 9,654,295
539,490 Intertrust Technologies Corp.* 6,507,598
212,770 SeaChange International, Inc.* 7,101,198
78,880 SpeechWorks International,Inc.* 4,890,560
73,900 VERITAS Software Corp.* 10,493,800
------------
38,647,451
------------
Computer Software - Finance (0.38%)
86,820 Bottomline Technologies, Inc.* 3,239,471
------------
Computer Software - Medical (0.47%)
209,130 Genomica Corp.* 4,065,487
------------
Computer Software - Security (0.70%)
79,800 Internet Security Systems, Inc.* 5,994,975
------------
Electronics - Military Systems (1.04%)
240,530 General Motors Corp. - Class H* 8,942,905
------------
Electronics - Miscellaneous Components (1.40%)
149,040 CoorsTek, Inc. 5,700,780
203,810 RF Micro Devices, Inc.* 6,394,538
------------
12,095,318
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.20%) - continued
Electronics - Miscellaneous Products (2.33%)
88,840 American Superconductor Corp.* $ 4,367,041
129,264 Gemstar - TV Guide
International, Inc.* 11,270,205
102,000 Symyx Technologies* 4,424,250
------------
20,061,496
------------
Electronics - Scientific Instruments (2.71%)
77,850 Newport Corp.* 12,398,828
93,760 PE Corp. - PE Biosystems Group 10,923,040
------------
23,321,868
------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (6.51%)
80,000 Applied Micro Circuits Corp.* 16,565,000
38,170 Broadcom Corp. - Class A* 9,303,937
218,200 Galileo Technology Ltd.* 6,927,850
261,500 Vitesse Semiconductor Corp.* 23,257,156
------------
56,053,943
------------
Energy - Other (0.08%)
23,050 Proton Energy Systems, Inc.* 659,806
------------
Finance - Investment Brokers (1.19%)
285,820 Knight Trading Group, Inc.* 10,289,520
------------
Financial Services - Miscellaneous (1.15%)
236,140 Checkfree Corp.* 9,892,052
------------
Internet - E*Commerce (1.20%)
739,190 NextCard, Inc.* 6,722,009
210,980 Ticketmaster Online - CitySearch, Inc.
- Class B* 3,573,473
------------
10,295,482
------------
Internet - ISP/Content (4.76%)
140,960 Akamai Technologies, Inc.* 7,402,602
603,010 Evoke Communications, Inc.* 3,957,253
288,120 InfoSpace, Inc.* 8,715,630
144,350 KPNQwest NV - NY Reg.* 4,186,150
190,290 RealNetworks, Inc.* 7,564,027
767,620 VIA NET.WORKS, Inc.* 7,388,342
19,920 Yahoo!, Inc.* 1,812,720
------------
41,026,724
------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (5.17%)
65,560 Cacheflow, Inc.* 9,375,080
31,380 Inktomi Corp.* 3,577,320
81,040 Juniper Networks, Inc.* 17,742,695
124,620 Tvia, Inc.* 2,235,371
57,190 VeriSign, Inc.* 11,584,582
------------
44,515,048
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 13
Berger Funds 13
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.20%) - continued
Internet - Software (10.29%)
112,250 Agile Software Corp.* $ 10,095,484
41,680 Ariba,Inc.* 5,971,311
59,760 AvantGo, Inc.* 1,195,200
84,620 Click Commerce, Inc.* 3,617,505
181,076 Cosine Communications, Inc.* 10,061,035
152,670 Docent, Inc.* 2,795,769
59,450 FreeMarkets, Inc.* 3,396,081
332,770 Liberate Technologies, Inc.* 9,629,531
361,760 Net2Phone, Inc.* 8,139,600
118,580 Phone.com, Inc.* 13,473,652
119,890 Quest Software, Inc.* 7,446,292
427,090 Vignette Corp.* 12,759,313
------------
88,580,773
------------
Media - Cable TV (3.38%)
473,848 AT&T Corp. - Liberty Media Group -
Class A* 8,529,264
117,430 Comcast Corp. - Class A* 4,777,933
38,200 Comcast Corp. - Special Class A* 1,563,812
208,640 EchoStar Communications Corp. -
Class A* 11,005,760
300,000 Liberty Satellite & Technology, Inc. -
Class A* 3,187,500
------------
29,064,269
------------
Media - Radio/TV (1.12%)
200,200 Pegasus Communications Corp. -
Class A* 9,672,162
------------
Medical - Biomedical/Genetics (7.60%)
124,050 Cephalon, Inc.* 6,016,425
490,930 Curis,Inc.* 9,787,916
373,730 Diversa Corp.* 10,090,710
50,300 Genentech, Inc.* 9,340,081
118,040 Illumina,Inc.* 5,356,065
187,170 Immunex Corp. 8,141,895
234,580 Invitrogen Corp.* 16,684,502
------------
65,417,594
------------
Medical - Ethical Drugs (1.03%)
178,360 Pharmacyclics, Inc.* 8,851,115
------------
Medical - Instruments (2.61%)
161,490 Aclara BioSciences, Inc.* 4,905,258
208,640 Discovery Partners International, Inc.* 4,238,000
524,700 Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.* 13,314,262
------------
22,457,520
------------
Medical - Products (1.60%)
269,460 Argonaut Technologies, Inc.* 5,001,851
117,150 Caliper Technologies Corp. 6,787,378
37,250 Caliper Technologies Corp.*@o 2,011,416
------------
13,800,645
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.20%) - continued
Medical - Wholesale Drugs/Sundries (1.12%)
680,060 Allscripts, Inc.* $ 9,605,847
------------
Metal - Processing & Fabrication (0.84%)
267,210 Maverick Tube Corp.* 7,197,969
------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (4.67%)
285,260 Global Marine, Inc.* 8,807,402
2,063,030 Grey Wolf, Inc.* 11,862,422
327,230 Marine Drilling Co., Inc.* 9,346,506
175,500 Precision Drilling Corp.* 6,252,187
141,380 R&B Falcon Corp.* 3,940,967
------------
40,209,484
------------
Oil & Gas - Production/Pipeline (0.85%)
83,680 Enron Corp. 7,332,460
------------
Oil & Gas - U.S. Exploration & Production (1.58%)
99,690 Anadarko Petroleum Corp. 6,625,397
149,430 Newfield Exploration Co.* 6,976,513
------------
13,601,910
------------
Retail - Consumer Electronics (0.26%)
62,220 Tweeter Home Entertainment
Group, Inc.* 2,259,363
------------
Telecommunications - Cellular (0.53%)
224,400 OmniSky Corp.* 4,558,125
------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (16.16%)
127,780 Celeritek, Inc.* 4,815,708
119,480 Ciena Corp.* 14,673,637
107,230 Corvis Corp.* 6,546,056
382,640 DMC Stratex Networks, Inc.* 6,146,155
68,550 JDS Uniphase Corp.* 6,490,828
102,010 New Focus, Inc.* 8,065,165
149,200 Next Level Communications, Inc. -
Class A* 9,865,850
86,760 Oni Systems Corp.* 7,488,472
130,120 Redback Networks, Inc.* 21,331,547
32,910 SDL, Inc.* 10,136,280
139,032 Sycamore Networks, Inc.* 15,015,456
100,000 Terayon Communications
Systems, Inc.* 3,393,750
112,160 Turnstone Systems, Inc.* 5,201,420
139,790 Tycom Ltd.* 5,364,441
123,790 Virata Corp.* 8,185,613
398,800 Western Multiplex Corp. - Class A* 6,405,725
------------
139,126,103
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 14
14
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger New
Generation Fund
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.20%) - continued
Telecommunications - Services (2.87%)
1,787,290 Caprock Communications Corp.*# $ 9,104,008
59,340 Level 3 Communications, Inc.* 4,576,597
120,130 P.T. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara - ADR* 1,396,511
200,530 Qwest Communications
International, Inc.* 9,637,972
------------
24,715,088
------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $711,328,151) 845,524,698
------------
Corporate Debt - Convertible (0.95%)
Computer - Services (0.95%)
$4,984,000 Cyras Systems, Inc. - 144A
4.50%, 8/15/2005 6,005,720
2,000,000 Kestrel Solutions - 144A
5.50%, 7/15/2005 2,170,000
------------
8,175,720
------------
Total Corporate Debt - Convertible
(Cost $7,577,640) 8,175,720
------------
Preferred Stock - Convertible (1.07%)
Internet - ISP/Content (0.69%)
396,417 netLibrary, Inc. - Series C*@o 6,001,753
------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (0.38%)
371,550 Cidera, Inc.*@o 3,250,876
------------
Total Preferred Stock - Convertible
(Cost $8,250,881) 9,252,629
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Repurchase Agreement (0.57%)
$4,943,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $4,945,603 on
October 2, 2000, collateralized by
FNMA Agency Note, 6.40% -
September 27, 2001 with a value of
$5,042,006 $ 4,943,000
------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $4,943,000) 4,943,000
------------
Total Investments (Cost $732,099,672) (100.79%) 867,896,047
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (-0.79%) (6,845,112)
------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $861,050,935
------------
</TABLE>
o Schedule of Restricted Securities and/or Illiquid Securities
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Fair Value
Date Fair as a %
Acquired Cost Value of Net Assets
-------- ---- ----- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
netLibrary, Inc. -
Preferred Stock 10/12/1999 $5,000,005 $6,001,753 0.69%
Caliper
Technologies
Corp. -
Common Stock 8/23/2000 $1,788,000 $2,011,416 0.23%
Cidera , Inc. -
Preferred Stock 9/1/2000 $3,250,876 $3,250,876 0.38%
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
144A - Resale is restricted to qualified institutional buyers.
@ - Security valued at fair value determined in good faith pursuant to
procedures established by and under the supervision of the Fund's trustees.
# The Investment Company Act of 1940 defines affiliates as those companies in
which a fund holds 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities. Following is
a summary of the transactions with affiliates for the year ended September 30,
2000:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Change in
Market Value Purchases Sales Unrealized Market Value Dividend Realized
9/30/1999 at Cost at Cost Appr./(Depr.) 9/30/2000 Income Gain/(Loss)
------------ ----------- ----------- ------------- ------------ --------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Caprock Communications Corp. $ 3,094,575 $20,039,671 $(4,684,428) $(9,345,810) $9,104,008 -- $4,598,439
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 15
Berger Funds 15
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol BESLX
Fund Number 214
PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY JAY W. TRACEY III
Berger STEVEN L. FOSSEL
Select Fund MARK S. SUNDERHUSE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Select Fund (the "Fund") had a very good fiscal year ended September
30, 2000, gaining 55.73% compared with 13.27% for the Standard & Poor's (S&P)
500 Index(1) and 43.22% for the S&P MidCap 400 Index.(2) This solid performance
was driven primarily by stock selection, although our relatively aggressive
weighting in the technology sector also helped.
Period in Review
In technology, the Fund benefited from investments in companies that supply
infrastructure for the Internet build-out. Equipment vendors Juniper Networks,
Sycamore Networks, Cisco Systems and Redback Networks did very well serving the
rapidly-growing market for high-speed data networking. We remain bullish on many
of these companies because they are among the leading suppliers of innovative
solutions to service providers, which are, in turn, aggressively deploying those
solutions to meet an insatiable demand for increased bandwidth.
Companies supplying leading-edge software solutions that take advantage of the
Internet to deliver competitive advantages to their customers also contributed
to the Fund's good results. Among the Fund's better performers were VeriSign,
which provides digital certificate services that secure e-commerce and
communications over the Internet, and Agile Software, whose collaborative
products help automate commerce between manufacturers and their suppliers and
customers. Surveys of information technology managers at major companies confirm
that e-commerce spending, which has been strong all year, should continue to
grow rapidly for the foreseeable future. We remain, therefore, optimistic about
the outlook for select vendors of e-commerce solutions.
Technology is an exciting, but risky, area in which to invest because the pace
of change is so fast, the market is so competitive and the stocks are so
volatile. We will continue to focus on innovative companies with strong,
forward-looking management teams, leading products or services, defensible
barriers to competition and rapidly growing, sustainable revenues and earnings.
In healthcare, Genentech, a leading biotechnology company with seven products on
the market and more in development, was a significant contributor to Fund
performance this year. In financial services, Schwab did well, but Nextcard was
a disappointment. Our investment in the utility Constellation Energy also aided
Fund performance.
The Fund's energy holdings did well over the year, particularly ENSCO
International and Nabors Industries, two oil services companies. Despite strong
stock performance over the past year, we remain positive on the outlook for this
sector because the earnings outlook is only getting brighter.
Generally, performance in the consumer groups was disappointing. Compared with
our index, we have been underweighted in the sector. The Fund's radio
broadcasting stocks were down as advertising revenues slowed over the latter
half of the fiscal year. Because this trend is likely to persist for another
quarter or two, we eliminated our positions in Spanish Broadcasting and Clear
Channel Communications.
Summary
Again, the Fund's good results were driven more by individual stock selection
than by the weighting given to various sectors. Because we employ a
fundamentally research-driven, bottom-up approach to portfolio management, the
Fund's results are consistent with our aggressive growth-oriented investment
philosophy. Every day presents us with new opportunities among rapidly growing
companies. Rarely have there been so many companies addressing such open-ended
business opportunities as there are today. Regardless of the stock market's
short-term ups and downs, we are excited about the fundamental outlook for the
great growth companies that are leading us into the future. Because ours is a
concentrated Fund, our mandate and our continuing focus are to identify and
invest in the best of these companies.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested, which
consists of the common stocks of 500 publicly traded U.S. companies. It is a
generally recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of the U.S.
stock market. One cannot invest directly in an index.
(2) The S&P MidCap 400 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested,
and is generally representative of the market for mid-sized companies. One
cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 16
16
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Select Fund
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Select Fund
vs. S&P 500 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 55.73%
Life of Fund (12/31/97) 51.96%
Berger Select Fund $31,608
S&P 500 Index $15,346
[GRAPH]
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance shown
reflects the unusually favorable market conditions that existed in 1999 which
likely are not sustainable as market conditions change. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (85.36%)
Diversified Operations (4.24%)
100,000 Tyco International Ltd. $ 5,187,500
------------
Electronics - Miscellaneous Products (1.26%)
17,670 Gemstar - TV Guide International, Inc.* 1,540,603
------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (1.94%)
11,480 Applied Micro Circuits Corp.* 2,377,077
------------
Internet - E*Commerce (2.88%)
387,000 NextCard, Inc.* 3,519,281
------------
Internet - ISP/Content (6.29%)
254,160 InfoSpace, Inc.* 7,688,340
------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (12.06%)
30,400 Juniper Networks, Inc.* 6,655,700
40,000 VeriSign, Inc.* 8,102,500
------------
14,758,200
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (85.36%) - continued
Internet - Software (8.62%)
110,000 Agile Software Corp.* $ 9,893,125
11,677 Cosine Communications, Inc.* 648,803
------------
10,541,928
------------
Media - Cable TV (3.68%)
250,000 AT&T Corp. - Liberty Media Group -
Class A* 4,500,000
------------
Medical - Biomedical/Genetics (10.09%)
66,500 Genentech, Inc.* 12,348,220
------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (8.62%)
123,700 ENSCO International, Inc. 4,731,525
111,000 Nabors Industries, Inc.* 5,816,400
------------
10,547,925
------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (15.41%)
36,800 Redback Networks, Inc.* 6,032,900
118,636 Sycamore Networks, Inc. 12,812,688
------------
18,845,588
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 17
Berger Funds 17
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger
Select Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (85.36%) - continued
Telecommunications - Services (3.93%)
100,000 Qwest Communications
International, Inc.* $ 4,806,250
------------
Utility - Electric Power (6.34%)
150,000 Constellation Energy Group, Inc. 7,462,500
9,400 Southern Energy, Inc.* 294,925
------------
7,757,425
------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $74,027,248) 104,418,337
------------
U.S. Government Agency Obligations (8.83%)
$10,800,000 FHLMA Discount Note -
6.20%, 10/02/2000 10,798,140
------------
Total U.S. Government Agency Obligations
(Cost $10,798,140) 10,798,140
------------
Repurchase Agreement (4.49%)
$5,498,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement, 6.32%
dated September 29, 2000, to be repurchased
at $5,500,896 on October 2, 2000, collateralized
by FNMA Agency Note, 6.50% - August 15, 2004
with a value of $5,612,925 5,498,000
------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $5,498,000) 5,498,000
------------
Total Investments (Cost $90,323,388) (98.68%) 120,714,477
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (1.32%) 1,616,768
------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $122,331,245
------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
FHLMA - Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 18
18
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol - Investor Shares BESCX
- Institutional Shares N/A
Fund Number - Investor Shares 345
Berger Small Company - Institutional Shares 915
Growth Fund PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY JAY W. TRACEY III
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Small Company Growth Fund ("the Fund") had a very good fiscal year
ended September 30, 2000, gaining 84.27% (Investor Shares) and 85.25%
(Institutional Shares) compared with 23.39% and 29.66% for the Russell 2000
Index(1) and Russell 2000 Growth Index(2) respectively. This solid performance
was driven by stock selection, primarily, although our relatively aggressive
weightings in technology, healthcare and energy also helped.
Period in Review
In technology, the Fund benefited from holdings in companies that supply
infrastructure for the Internet build-out. Applied Micro Circuits, which makes
integrated circuits, Redback Networks, which makes high-speed access systems,
and Newport Corp., which makes components and systems for fiber-optic
communications, were some of the Fund's stocks that did well. We remain bullish
on many of the component and equipment companies that are supplying innovative,
market-leading solutions to service providers, which are, in turn, aggressively
deploying those solutions to meet an insatiable demand for increased bandwidth.
Companies supplying leading-edge software solutions that take advantage of the
Internet to deliver competitive advantages to their customers also contributed
to the Fund's good results. Among the better performers were Agile Software,
whose collaborative software products help automate commerce between
manufacturers and their suppliers and customers; Mercury Interactive, whose
software products automate Internet and other business application testing; and
Ariba, whose e-commerce software products automate the management of business
operating resources. Surveys of Information Technology managers at major
companies confirm that e-commerce spending, which has been strong all year,
should continue to grow rapidly for the foreseeable future. We remain,
therefore, optimistic about the outlook for select vendors of e-commerce
solutions.
Elsewhere in technology, semiconductor equipment stocks, strong early in the
year, weakened considerably in the last few months as the market became
concerned about the durability of the semiconductor manufacturing cycle. Also,
in software, companies whose products focus on customer relationship management
were weak toward the end of the fiscal year because of concerns that this area
had become too competitive. Two holdings in this area, ONYX Software and Primus
Knowledge Solutions, were disappointing. Technology is an exciting but risky
area in which to invest because the pace of change is so fast, the market is so
competitive and the stocks are so volatile. We will continue to focus on
innovative technology companies with strong, forward-looking management teams,
leading products or services, defensible barriers to competition and rapidly
growing, sustainable revenues and earnings.
In healthcare, our notable winners included IDEC Pharmaceuticals, which has a
good cancer product on the market and an exciting pipeline of new compounds in
development; Cephalon, whose success in treating neurological disorders with its
lead compound, Provigil, led to significant stock appreciation this past year;
and Invitrogen, who sells research tool kits to the biotech and pharmaceutical
industries. Most of the Fund's healthcare holdings produced gains, except for
Visible Genetics, which was down because of a delay in the commercial launch of
its TRUGENE HIV-1 Genotyping Kit. Overall, we remain positive on the outlook for
this sector. Our emphasis has been on biotechnology, in which a number of
companies have emerged, or are about to emerge, from the development phase with
successful new products that we believe will generate significant sales and
shareholder value.
The Fund's energy stocks, particularly in the oil field services area, were good
performers, including Pride International, National-Oilwell and Patterson
Energy. Basin Exploration was disappointing and was sold. Despite the gains
generated in this sector, we have elected to maintain our overweighting because
the earnings outlook is only getting brighter.
Generally, the consumer services area was disappointing. In particular, the
Fund's radio broadcasting stocks were down as advertising revenues slowed over
the latter half of the fiscal year. Because this trend is likely to persist for
another quarter or two, we reduced our exposure, but are holding on to
higher-quality companies such as Cox Radio and Hispanic Broadcasting, which now
offer good value. Positions were initiated in two restaurant companies:
California Pizza Kitchen and P.F. Chang's China Bistro. The restaurant industry
as a whole has shown modest improvement, but our interest in these companies was
driven by their own merits.
Summary
Again, the Fund's good results were driven more by individual stock selection
than by the weighting given to various sectors. Because we employ a
fundamentally research-driven, bottom-up approach to portfolio management, the
Fund's results are consistent with our aggressive growth-oriented investment
philosophy. Every day presents us with new opportunities among small, emerging
growth stocks. Rarely have there been so many companies addressing such
open-ended business opportunities as there are today. So, whether or not
small-cap stocks outperform large caps, we look forward each day to the prospect
of identifying and investing in those that are on their way to becoming the
widely recognized, established growth stocks of the future.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The Russell 2000 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested,
which consists of the common stocks of 2000 U.S. companies. It is a generally
recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of small company
stocks. One cannot invest directly in an index.
(2) The Russell 2000 Growth Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends
reinvested, which consists of common growth stocks included in the Russell 2000
Index. Companies in this index tend to exhibit higher price-to-book and
price-earnings ratios. It is a generally recognized indicator used to measure
overall small company growth stock performance in the U.S. stock market. One
cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 19
Berger Funds 19
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Small Company Growth Fund -
Investor Shares(*)
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Small Company
Growth Fund; Investor Shares vs. Russell 2000 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 84.27%
Five Year 28.40%
Life of Fund (12/30/93) 27.10%
Berger Small Company Growth Fund -
Investor Shares $50,456
Russell 2000 Index $22,130
[GRAPH]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Small Company Growth Fund -
Institutional Shares(*)
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Small Company
Growth Fund; Institutional Shares vs. Russell 2000 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 85.25%
Five Year 28.54%
Life of Fund (12/30/93) 27.20%
Berger Small Company Growth Fund -
Institutional Shares $1,268,107
Russell 2000 Index $553,238
[GRAPH]
* Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance shown
reflects the unusually favorable market conditions that existed in 1999 which
likely are not sustainable as market conditions change. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost.
<PAGE> 20
20
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Small Company
Growth Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (91.00%)
Banks - West/Southwest (1.27%)
322,690 Silicon Valley Bancshares* $ 18,791,650
------------
Building - Heavy Construction (1.19%)
420,490 Dycom Industries, Inc.* 17,502,896
------------
Commercial Services - Miscellaneous (7.63%)
1,289,010 Corporate Executive Board Co.* 51,882,652
290,930 Diamond Technology Partners, Inc. -
Class A* 21,601,552
612,620 Forrester Research, Inc.*# 39,054,525
------------
112,538,729
------------
Commercial Services - Schools (1.12%)
440,430 DeVry, Inc.* 16,568,545
------------
Computer - Local Networks (1.38%)
455,430 Proxim, Inc.* 20,266,635
------------
Computer Software - Desktop (1.34%)
243,720 Macromedia, Inc.* 19,695,622
------------
Computer Software - Educational/Entertainment (1.05%)
327,130 Smartforce PLC - Spon. ADR* 15,497,783
------------
Computer Software - Enterprise (4.12%)
233,000 Mercury Interactive Corp.* 36,522,750
1,174,320 ONYX Software Corp.*# 24,220,350
------------
60,743,100
------------
Electronics - Laser System/Component (3.06%)
596,100 Cymer, Inc.* 18,292,818
563,210 Lightpath Technologies, Inc.
- Class A*# 26,752,475
------------
45,045,293
------------
Electronics - Scientific Instruments (2.07%)
191,910 Newport Corp.* 30,564,666
------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Equipment (4.45%)
295,800 AXT, Inc.* 12,368,137
502,920 DuPont Photomasks, Inc.* 29,546,550
222,700 Veeco Instruments, Inc.* 23,665,354
------------
65,580,041
------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (3.16%)
152,000 Applied Micro Circuits Corp.* 31,473,500
561,430 PLX Technology, Inc.* 15,088,431
------------
46,561,931
------------
Electronic Products - Miscellaneous (3.69%)
477,630 American Superconductor Corp.* 23,478,499
1,275,730 Universal Electronics, Inc.* # 30,856,719
------------
54,335,218
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (91.00%) - continued
Financial Services - Miscellaneous (2.74%)
357,370 Investors Financial Services Corp. $ 22,558,981
215,620 Metris Companies, Inc. 8,516,990
289,010 Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.* 9,338,635
------------
40,414,606
------------
Internet - E*Commerce (0.35%)
462,270 Ebenx, Inc.* 5,229,455
------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (0.66%)
239,250 Sapient Corp.* 9,734,484
------------
Internet - Software (5.45%)
326,230 Agile Software Corp.* 29,340,310
174,350 Ariba, Inc.* 24,978,361
271,320 Primus Knowledge Solutions, Inc.* 4,018,927
1,001,300 ScreamingMedia, Inc.* 9,387,187
410,760 Support.com, Inc.* 12,579,525
------------
80,304,310
------------
Media - Radio/TV (3.13%)
1,299,090 Cox Radio, Inc. - Class A* 22,652,881
280,500 Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.* 7,818,937
395,480 SBS Broadcasting SA* 15,745,047
------------
46,216,865
------------
Medical - Biomedical/Genetics (12.85%)
628,260 BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* 13,075,661
766,530 Cephalon, Inc.* 37,176,705
860,540 Curis, Inc.* 17,157,016
450,820 Diversa Corp.* 12,172,140
419,750 Genencor International,Inc.* 12,435,093
82,700 IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp.* 14,502,220
147,460 Illumina, Inc.* 6,690,997
580,620 Invitrogen Corp.* 41,296,597
95,200 Medimmune, Inc.* 7,354,200
568,880 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* 18,559,710
224,620 Visible Genetics,Inc.* 9,069,032
------------
189,489,371
------------
Medical - Ethical Drugs (1.33%)
394,850 Pharmacyclics, Inc.* 19,594,431
------------
Medical - Instruments (4.03%)
274,690 Aclara BioSciences, Inc.* 8,343,708
668,130 American Medical Systems
Holdings,Inc.* 10,439,531
774,510 IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.* 20,718,142
785,320 Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.*# 19,927,495
------------
59,428,876
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 21
Berger Funds 21
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (91.00%) - continued
Medical - Products (0.71%)
150,000 Caliper Technologies Corp.*@o $ 8,099,662
154,690 Durect Corp.* 2,320,350
------------
10,420,012
------------
Medical/Dental/Services (0.90%)
271,860 Accredo Health, Inc.*# 13,287,157
------------
Medical - Wholesale Drugs/Sundries (2.50%)
793,780 Allscripts, Inc.* 11,212,142
337,000 Priority Healthcare Corp. - Class B* 25,696,250
------------
36,908,392
------------
Metal - Processing & Fabrication (1.15%)
630,520 Maverick Tube Corp.* 16,984,632
------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (5.50%)
833,300 Marine Drilling Co., Inc.* 23,801,131
433,150 Patterson Energy, Inc.* 14,889,531
444,930 Precision Drilling Corp.* 15,850,631
1,002,640 Pride International, Inc.* 26,569,960
------------
81,111,253
------------
Oil & Gas - Field Services (1.68%)
853,980 Veritas DGC, Inc.* 24,712,046
------------
Oil & Gas - Machinery & Equipment (0.80%)
377,730 National-Oilwell, Inc.* 11,804,062
------------
Retail - Consumer Electronics (1.04%)
421,360 Tweeter Home Entertainment
Group, Inc.* 15,300,635
------------
Retail - Miscellaneous/Diversified (0.92%)
340,000 Michaels Stores, Inc.* 13,600,000
------------
Retail - Restaurants (1.20%)
357,190 California Pizza Kitchen, Inc.* 10,001,320
221,750 P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc.* 7,664,234
------------
17,665,554
------------
Retail - Super/Mini-Markets (1.26%)
347,010 Whole Foods Market, Inc.* 18,630,099
------------
Telecommunications - Cellular (0.76%)
549,530 OmniSky Corp.* 11,162,328
------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (5.13%)
448,200 DMC Stratex Networks, Inc.* 7,199,212
396,300 Powerwave Technologies, Inc.* 15,047,015
49,200 Redback Networks, Inc.* 8,065,725
267,400 Tollgrade Communications, Inc.* 37,118,462
643,110 Triton Network Systems, Inc.* 8,138,812
------------
75,569,226
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (91.00%) - continued
Telecommunications - Services (0.21%)
370,620 Advanced Radio Telecom Corp.* $ 3,150,270
--------------
Transportation - Services (1.17%)
337,410 SkyWest,Inc. 17,292,262
--------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $947,334,723) 1,341,702,435
--------------
Preferred Stock - Convertible (0.49%)
Computer - Peripheral Equipment (0.11%)
665,000 Candescent Technologies Corp. -
Series E*@o 1,662,500
--------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (0.38%)
644,462 Cidera, Inc.*@o 5,638,720
--------------
Total Preferred Stock - Convertible
(Cost $9,296,220) 7,301,220
--------------
U.S. Government Agency Obligations (3.39%)
$25,000,000 FNMA Discount Note -
6.43%, 10/10/2000 24,959,812
25,000,000 FNMA Discount Note -
6.435%, 10/12/2000 24,950,843
--------------
Total U.S. Government Agency Obligations
(Cost $49,910,655) 49,910,655
--------------
Repurchase Agreement (3.91%)
$57,637,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $57,667,355
on October 2, 2000, collateralized
by FNMA Agency Note, 6.40% -
September 27, 2001 with a value
of $48,962,370 and FNMA Agency
Note, 6.40% - December 14, 2001
with a value of $9,832,578 57,637,000
--------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $57,637,000) 57,637,000
--------------
Total Investments (Cost $1,064,178,598) (98.79%) 1,456,551,310
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (1.21%) 17,875,514
--------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $1,474,426,824
--------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
PLC - Public Limited Company.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
@ - Security valued at fair value determined in good faith pursuant to
procedures established by and under the supervision of the Fund's trustees.
<PAGE> 22
22
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Small Company
Growth Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
# The Investment Company Act of 1940 defines affiliates as those companies in
which a fund holds 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities. Following is
a summary of the transactions with affiliates for the year ended September 30,
2000:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Change in
Market Value Purchases Sales Unrealized Market Value Dividend Realized
9/30/1999 at Cost at Cost Appr./(Depr.) 9/30/2000 Income Gain/(Loss)
------------ ----------- ----------- ------------- ------------ --------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Accredo Health, Inc. $8,690,850 $ 3,861,838 $(6,429,490) $7,163,959 $13,287,157 -- $5,657,664
Forrester Research, Inc. -- 31,410,372 (1,799,592) 9,443,745 39,054,525 -- (470,657)
LightPath Technologies,Inc. - Class A -- 21,014,624 -- 5,737,851 26,752,475 -- --
Onyx Software Corp. -- 33,987,915 -- (9,767,565) 24,220,350 -- --
Paradigm Geophysical Ltd. 3,389,546 -- (4,104,100) 714,554 -- -- (787,461)
PathoGenesis Corp. -- 23,225,657 (23,225,657) -- -- -- 11,345,950
The Right Start, Inc. -- 6,485,403 (6,485,403) -- -- -- (5,884,984)
Universal Electronics, Inc. 10,262,875 8,459,042 -- 12,134,802 30,856,719 -- --
Ventana Medical Systems,Inc. 6,533,100 12,345,599 -- 1,048,796 19,927,495 -- --
</TABLE>
o Schedule of Restricted Securities and/or Illiquid Securities
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Fair Value
Date Fair as a %
Acquired Cost Value of Net Assets
-------- ---- ----- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Candescent
Technologies
Corp. -
Preferred Stock 5/1/1996 $3,657,500 $1,662,500 0.11%
Caliper
Technologies
Corp. -
Common Stock 8/23/2000 $7,200,000 $8,099,662 0.55%
Cidera, Inc. -
Preferred Stock 9/1/2000 $5,638,720 $5,638,720 0.38%
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 23
Berger Fund 23
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol - Investor Shares BSCVX
- Institutional Shares BSVIX
Fund Number - Investor Shares 120
- Institutional Shares 403
Berger Small Cap PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY ROBERT H. PERKINS
Value Fund THOMAS M. PERKINS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Small Cap Value Fund (the "Fund") had a total return of 20.77%
(Investor Shares) and 21.09% (Institutional Shares) for the year ended September
30, 2000, compared with 23.39% for the Russell 2000 Index(1) and 15.36% for the
Russell 2000 Value Index.(2)
After six straight years of underperformance, the Russell 2000 Index outgained
large-cap indexes this fiscal year. And, while the Russell 2000 Growth Index3
outperformed its value counterpart by more than 14%, all of the outperformance
occurred between September and December 1999. Since January 2000, value has
outpaced growth by 17%. We believe this marks a turning point that will lead to
strong relative performance of value versus growth for the foreseeable future.
Period in Review
Our best-performing sector this year was energy. As crude and natural gas prices
continued to reach levels not seen since the Gulf War, stock prices climbed to
new highs. Consistent with our philosophy of buying these stocks when commodity
prices are at new lows and selling when they reach new highs, we were net
sellers of energy stocks this year. We eliminated Evergreen Resources and
Barrett Resources but continue to like Key Energy, Noble Affiliates and Mitchell
Energy.
We continued to pare back our Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) holdings. As
spreads between REIT yields and 10-year Treasuries continue to narrow, we
believe many stocks in the group are now fairly valued, and we have reduced our
exposure accordingly. We remain focused, however, on those names that trade at a
discount to net asset value and their peer group, such as Home Properties of New
York and Highwoods Properties.
Other industries that performed well included homebuilders, banks and insurance.
As the Federal Reserve Board increased interest rates in the first half of the
year, investors shunned industries most directly impacted by higher rates,
namely homebuilders and financial institutions. We used this weakness to build
positions in homebuilding companies. As investors gained confidence that rate
hikes were nearing an end, money began to flow into these beaten down
industries. Homebuilders more than doubled off their lows, and financial stocks
rallied more than 30% off their lows. We then decreased our exposure,
eliminating Lennar and reducing Pulte, and used the proceeds to initiate a
position in Fleetwood Enterprises, which had a more attractive valuation.
Healthcare stocks contributed positively in the second half of the year.
Legislative relief for skilled nursing facilities benefited holdings such as
Manor Care and Omnicare, both of which more than doubled off their lows.
Generally, stocks in the consumer industries were disappointing. Specifically,
our holdings in retailers AnnTaylor Stores, Ross and La-Z-boy struggled through
most of the year. While we feel each of these companies' problems are short-term
in nature and will eventually reverse course, we believe that near-term caution
is warranted and selectivity is of the utmost importance. We took advantage of
market conditions and purchased new positions in companies such as Briggs &
Stratton, Tecumseh Products, Manitowoc and A.O. Smith. All of these companies
were 30--60% off their 52-week highs yet had strong balance sheets and excellent
earnings recovery probability.
One group that proved challenging was fallen growth stocks, particularly those
in the technology sector. After being our best-performing group first quarter,
technology stocks had a negative effect on Fund performance for the year. We
attribute this to a noticeable slowdown in information technology spending by
major corporations as they struggled to digest Web-enabling projects. We believe
spending will pick up as these companies seek to integrate Web applications with
existing systems, thereby benefiting IT staffing companies. Despite the negative
returns during this period, we continue to add to our holdings in companies such
as Computer Horizons, Spherion and Kronos, which should benefit from the next
wave of spending.
Summary
We are encouraged by the recent resurgence in small-cap stocks and value
investing. We remain optimistic that the renewed emphasis on valuation marks the
beginning of a longer-term trend toward the value style. While small caps as a
group have been closing the valuation gap with their large-cap peers, we
continue to believe that risk/reward characteristics still favor small caps.
This is evidenced by the growing rate of merger and acquisition activity in the
small-cap arena. In the past year, 10% of the Fund's holdings were taken over by
larger corporate entities or taken private at significant premiums. We believe
heightened merger and acquisition activity highlights how inexpensive these
stocks have become and that one way or another value will be realized.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The Russell 2000 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested,
which consists of the common stocks of 2000 U.S. companies. It is a generally
recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of small company
stocks. One cannot invest directly in an index.
(2) The Russell 2000 Value Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends
reinvested, which consists of common value stocks included in the Russell 2000
Index. Companies in this index tend to exhibit lower price-to-book and
price-earnings ratios. It is a generally recognized indicator used to measure
overall small company value stock performance in the U.S. stock market. One
cannot invest directly in an index.
(3) The Russell 2000 Growth Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends
reinvested, which consists of common growth stocks included in the Russell 2000
Index. Companies in this index tend to exhibit higher price-to-book and
price-to-earnings ratios. It is a generally recognized indicator used to measure
overall small company growth stock performance in the U.S. stock market. One
cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 24
24
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Small Cap Value Fund -
Investor Shares*
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Small Cap Value Fund;
Investor Shares vs. Russell 2000 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 20.77%
Five Year 18.24%
Ten Year 17.96%
Berger Small Cap Value Fund -
Investor Shares $52,167
Russell 2000 Index $47,797
[GRAPH]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Small Cap Value Fund -
Institutional Shares*
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Small Cap Value Fund;
Institutional Shares vs. Russell 2000 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 21.09%
Five Year 18.54%
Ten Year 18.11%
Berger Small Cap Value Fund -
Institutional Shares $1,320,603
Russell 2000 Index $1,194,932
[GRAPH]
* Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost. Performance data for the Investor Shares
include periods prior to the adoption of class designations on February 14,
1997, and therefore do not reflect the 0.25% per year 12b-1 fee applicable to
the Investor Shares. This would have reduced the Investor Shares' return.
<PAGE> 25
Berger Funds 25
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Small Cap
Value Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (90.21%)
Auto/Truck - Original Equipment (1.28%)
525,000 Tecumseh Products Co. - Class A $ 21,984,375
--------------
Banks - Midwest (3.26%)
1,275,000 Associated Banc-Corp. 33,468,750
400,000 Citizens Banking Corp. 9,200,000
770,000 Community First Bankshares, Inc. 13,523,125
--------------
56,191,875
--------------
Banks - Northeast (4.09%)
1,600,000 Banknorth Group, Inc. 28,600,000
1,000,000 F.N.B. Corp.# 21,375,000
1,850,000 Seacoast Financial Services Corp.# 20,350,000
--------------
70,325,000
--------------
Building - Mobile/Manufactured/RV (0.65%)
1,000,000 Champion Enterprises, Inc.* 4,250,000
509,530 Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. 6,910,500
--------------
11,160,500
--------------
Building - Paint & Allied Products (1.24%)
2,350,000 RPM, Inc. 21,296,875
--------------
Building - Residential/Commercial (2.20%)
1,150,000 Pulte Corp. 37,950,000
--------------
Building Products - Wood (2.99%)
1,430,000 Rayonier, Inc.# 51,390,625
--------------
Chemicals - Plastics (1.41%)
2,200,000 Schulman (A.), Inc.# 24,200,000
--------------
Commercial Services - Staffing (2.64%)
2,592,460 kforce.com, Inc.*# 9,073,610
3,050,000 Spherion Corp.* 36,409,375
--------------
45,482,985
--------------
Computer - Graphics (1.23%)
1,886,230 Pinnacle Systems, Inc.* 21,220,087
--------------
Computer - Integrated Systems (0.19%)
108,940 Kronos, Inc.* 3,268,200
--------------
Computer - Memory Devices (0.63%)
712,180 Advanced Digital Information Corp.* 10,816,233
--------------
Computer - Services (1.32%)
885,000 Complete Business Solutions, Inc.* 11,947,500
1,575,000 Computer Horizons Corp.*# 10,729,695
--------------
22,677,195
--------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (90.21%) - continued
Computer Software - Enterprise (4.10%)
2,400,000 AVT Corp.*# $ 13,350,000
1,500,000 JDA Software Group, Inc.*# 19,125,000
1,353,360 Progress Software Corp.* 18,439,530
1,200,000 Structural Dynamics Research Corp.* 19,650,000
--------------
70,564,530
--------------
Computer Software - Finance (0.90%)
950,000 Transaction Systems Architects, Inc. -
Class A* 15,437,500
--------------
Cosmetics/Personal Care (1.27%)
3,200,000 Perrigo Co.* 21,900,000
--------------
Diversified Operations (4.45%)
2,400,000 Federal Signal Corp.# 47,700,000
1,500,000 The Manitowoc Co., Inc.# 28,875,000
--------------
76,575,000
--------------
Electrical - Control Instruments (1.10%)
1,900,000 Watts Industries, Inc. - Class A# 19,000,000
--------------
Electrical - Equipment (0.14%)
189,920 A.O. Smith Corp. 2,385,870
--------------
Finance - Equity REIT (10.34%)
840,000 Gables Residential Trust 22,837,500
650,000 Highwoods Properties, Inc. 15,356,250
1,200,000 Home Properties of New York, Inc.# 35,850,000
1,000,000 IRT Property Co. 8,750,000
1,131,320 JDN Realty Corp. 12,798,057
300,000 Parkway Properties, Inc. 9,150,000
1,500,000 Plum Creek Timber Co., Inc. 33,468,750
880,000 Prentiss Properties Trust 22,990,000
700,000 Summit Properties, Inc. 16,843,750
--------------
178,044,307
--------------
Finance - Public Investment Funds/Foreign (0.75%)
1,365,000 MSDW Asia Pacific Fund 12,882,187
--------------
Finance - Savings & Loans (2.06%)
1,175,960 Republic Security Financial Corp. 5,806,302
336,500 Warren Bancorp, Inc. 2,692,000
1,000,000 Webster Financial Corp. 26,937,500
--------------
35,435,802
--------------
Household/Office Furniture (1.44%)
1,700,000 La-Z-Boy, Inc. 24,756,250
--------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 26
26
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Small Cap
Value Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (90.21%) - continued
Insurance - Property/Casualty/Title (6.18%)
1,600,000 Horace Mann Educators, Inc. $ 26,200,000
1,685,470 IPC Holdings Ltd.# 31,181,195
2,035,000 Old Republic International Corp. 48,967,187
------------
106,348,382
------------
Machinery - General Industrial (2.20%)
1,000,000 Briggs & Stratton Corp. 37,812,500
------------
Medical/Dental/Services (2.25%)
2,400,000 Omnicare, Inc. 38,700,000
------------
Medical - Nursing Homes (2.84%)
3,125,000 Manor Care, Inc.* 49,023,437
------------
Medical/Dental - Supplies (1.47%)
2,104,600 Steris Corp.* 25,255,200
------------
Metal - Processing & Fabrication (1.28%)
958,030 Kaydon Corp. 22,034,690
------------
Office - Equipment & Automation (1.57%)
1,098,560 HON Industries, Inc. 27,052,040
------------
Oil & Gas - Field Services (2.64%)
4,628,800 Key Energy Services, Inc.*# 45,420,100
------------
Oil & Gas - U.S. Exploration & Production (5.90%)
1,200,000 Chieftain International, Inc.*# 24,825,000
851,540 Mitchell Energy & Development
Corp. - Class A 39,703,052
1,000,000 Noble Affiliates, Inc. 37,125,000
------------
101,653,052
------------
Paper & Paper Products (0.41%)
582,890 Longview Fibre Co. 6,994,680
------------
Retail - Apparel/Shoe (3.45%)
800,000 AnnTaylor Stores Corp.* 30,750,000
2,000,000 Ross Stores, Inc. 28,750,000
------------
59,500,000
------------
Retail - Mail Order & Direct (0.44%)
359,100 Lands' End, Inc.* 7,541,100
------------
Retail - Miscellaneous/Diversified (1.05%)
1,338,690 Pier 1 Imports, Inc. 18,155,984
------------
Retail - Super/Mini-Markets (0.91%)
1,200,000 Casey's General Stores, Inc. 15,600,000
------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (90.21%) - continued
Shoes & Related Apparel (1.79%)
3,300,000 Wolverine World Wide, Inc.# $ 30,731,250
--------------
Transportation - Equipment Manufacturing (1.59%)
429,710 Trinity Industries, Inc. 10,044,471
1,900,000 Wabash National Corp.# 17,337,500
--------------
27,381,971
--------------
Transportation - Rail (1.26%)
2,500,000 Kansas City Southern
Industries,Inc.* 21,718,750
--------------
Transportation - Truck (3.30%)
2,000,000 CNF Transportation,Inc. 44,500,000
792,000 Knight Transportation, Inc.*# 12,325,500
--------------
56,825,500
--------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $1,437,663,769) 1,552,694,032
--------------
U.S. Government Agency Obligations (5.92%)
$33,041,000 FHLMA Discount Note -
6.20%, 10/2/2000 33,035,309
25,000,000 FNMA Discount Note -
6.43%, 10/10/2000 24,959,812
25,000,000 FNMA Discount Note -
6.435%, 10/12/2000 24,950,843
18,959,000 SLMA Discount Note -
6.28%, 10/2/2000 18,955,692
--------------
Total U.S. Government Agency Obligations
(Cost $101,901,656) 101,901,656
--------------
Repurchase Agreement (4.53%)
$78,058,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $78,099,110
on October 2, 2000, collateralized
by FHLB Agency Note, 5.75% -
April 15, 2008 with a value of
$31,042,388 and FNMA Agency
Note, 6.35% - February 1, 2001
with a value of $48,581,400 78,058,000
--------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $78,058,000) 78,058,000
--------------
Total Investments (Cost $1,617,623,425) (100.66%) 1,732,653,688
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (-0.66%) (11,305,357)
--------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $1,721,348,331
--------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
FHLB - Federal Home Loan Bank.
FHLMA - Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
REIT - Real Estate Investment Trust.
SLMA - Student Loan Marketing Association.
<PAGE> 27
Berger Funds 27
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
# The Investment Company Act of 1940 defines affiliates as those companies in
which a fund holds 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities. Following is
a summary of the transactions with affiliates for the year ended September 30,
2000.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Change in
Market Value Purchases Sales Unrealized Market Value Dividend Realized
9/30/1999 at Cost at Cost Appr./(Depr.) 9/30/2000 Income Gain/(Loss)
------------ ---------- ----------- ------------- ------------ ----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
AVT Corp. -- $22,975,187 -- $(9,625,187) $13,350,000 -- --
Chieftain International,Inc $10,735,000 12,349,769 -- 1,740,231 24,825,000 -- --
Circor International, Inc.(1) -- 8,352,971(2) $(8,352,971) -- -- $ 53,179 $ (591,292)
Computer Horizons Corp. -- 7,178,524 (5,032,662) 8,583,833 10,729,695 -- 2,743,436
F.N.B. Corp. 8,972,500 13,597,821 -- (1,195,321) 21,375,000 532,800 --
Federal Signal Corp. 14,474,962 33,289,404 (6,411,051) 6,346,685 47,700,000 1,758,500 149,460
Home Properties of New York, Inc. 16,012,500 17,294,328 -- 2,543,172 35,850,000 1,566,150 --
IPC Holdings Ltd. 18,562,500 10,278,646 -- 2,340,049 31,181,195 158,400 --
JDA Software Group, Inc. 6,179,181 19,663,997 (6,861,081) 142,903 19,125,000 -- 4,844,814
Key Energy Services, Inc. 17,775,000 25,167,761 (8,363,454) 10,840,793 45,420,100 -- 10,475,560
kforce.com, Inc.(3) 9,523,442 11,755,486 (811,135) (11,394,183) 9,073,610 -- 67,636
Knight Transportation, Inc. -- 10,341,638 -- 1,983,862 12,325,500 -- --
Landry's Seafood Restaurants, Inc. 5,280,800 7,428,915 (14,252,847) 1,543,132 -- 77,000 (3,074,459)
The Manitowoc Co., Inc. -- 32,745,625 -- (3,870,625) 28,875,000 7,018 --
Rayonier,Inc -- 57,694,646 -- (6,304,021) 51,390,625 1,137,600 --
Schulman (A.),Inc 21,121,250 13,383,554 -- (10,304,804) 24,200,000 -- --
Seacoast Financial Services Corp. 7,000,000 11,617,921 -- 1,732,079 20,350,000 345,866 --
Sola International, Inc. 18,600,000 746,056 (18,781,957) (564,099) -- -- (11,797,099)
Splash Technology Holdings, Inc. 4,287,500 -- (6,575,744) 2,288,244 -- -- (24,751)
Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc. 8,859,375 11,528,615 (17,439,657) (2,948,333) -- 431,375 9,974,457
Wabash National Corp. -- 23,880,251 (964,013) 17,337,500 68,000 (3,736)
Watts Industries, Inc. - Class A 17,617,500 12,740,483 (3,425,667)(2) (7,932,316) 19,000,000 299,362 --
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. 23,432,500 13,890,825 -- (6,592,075) 30,731,250 344,874 --
</TABLE>
(1) Spun off from Watts Industries,Inc., effective 10/19/99.
(2) Amount includes allocation of cost resulting from the spin-off of Circor
International, Inc. from Watts Industries, Inc.
(3) Name change from Romac International, Inc. to kforce.com, Inc., effective
5/16/00.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 28
28
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol BEMGX
Berger Mid Cap Fund Number 215
Growth Fund PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY JAY W. TRACEY III
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Mid Cap Growth Fund ("the Fund") had a very good fiscal year ended
September 30, 2000, gaining 95.98% compared with 43.22% for the Standard &
Poor's (S&P) MidCap 400 Index(1). This solid performance was driven almost
entirely by stock selection, although our relative overweighting in certain
technology, healthcare and energy groups, as well as our underweighting in some
consumer groups, also helped.
Period in Review
In technology, the Fund benefited from holdings in companies that supply
infrastructure for the Internet build-out. Component suppliers Applied Micro
Circuits, SDL Inc., PMC-Sierra and JDS Uniphase, and equipment suppliers Juniper
Networks, Sycamore Networks and Redback Networks, all did very well serving the
rapidly-growing market for high-speed data networking. We remain bullish on many
of the component and equipment companies that are supplying innovative,
market-leading solutions to service providers, which are, in turn, aggressively
deploying those solutions to meet an insatiable demand for increased bandwidth.
Companies supplying leading-edge software solutions that take advantage of the
Internet to deliver competitive advantages to their customers also contributed
to the Fund's good results. Among the better performers were Verisign, which
provides digital certificate services that secure e-commerce and communications
over the Internet; Software.com, which provides messaging software applications
for Internet service providers (ISPs); and Ariba, whose e-commerce software
products automate the management of business operating resources. Surveys of
information technology managers at major companies confirm that e-commerce
spending, which has been strong all year, should continue to grow rapidly for
the foreseeable future. We remain, therefore, optimistic about the outlook for
select vendors of e-commerce solutions and view corrections as buying
opportunities.
Elsewhere in technology, semiconductor equipment stocks, strong early in the
year, weakened considerably in the last few months as the market became
concerned about the durability of the semiconductor manufacturing cycle.
Holdings such as KLA-Tencor were weak, but were sold in a relatively timely
fashion. Internet Security Systems, a somewhat recent addition to our portfolio,
was down, caught in the September correction. Technology is an exciting, but
risky, area in which to invest because the pace of change is so fast, the market
is so competitive and the stocks are so volatile. We will continue to focus on
innovative technology companies with strong, forward-looking management teams,
leading products or services, defensible barriers to competition and rapidly
growing, sustainable revenues and earnings.
In healthcare, our notable winners included IDEC Pharmaceuticals, which has a
good cancer product on the market and an exciting pipeline of new compounds in
development; Medimmune, a biotechnology company with six products on the market
and many more in development; Genentech, another biotech company with seven
products on the market; and PE Corp.-PE Biosystems Group, which markets
biochemical instrument systems and associated consumable products to the life
sciences industry. There were relatively few disappointments in the sector, but
two on the downside were Gene Logic (sold during the quarter) and Antigenics.
Overall, we remain positive on the outlook for this sector. Our emphasis has
been on biotechnology, in which a number of companies have emerged, or are about
to emerge, from the development phase with successful new products that we
believe will generate significant sales and shareholder value.
The Fund's energy holdings did very well. ENSCO International, Weatherford
International, Noble Drilling and BJ Services, which are benefiting from
favorable supply/demand dynamics in their businesses, were among the Fund's
winners. Despite the gains that have been generated in this sector, we are
continuing our overweighting because the earnings outlook is only getting
brighter.
Generally, our holdings in the consumer services area were disappointing. In
particular, the Fund's radio broadcasting stocks were down as advertising
revenues slowed over the latter half of the fiscal year. Because this trend is
likely to persist for another quarter or two, we reduced our exposure but are
holding on to higher-quality companies such as Cox Radio and Hispanic
Broadcasting, which now offer good value. There were some bright spots, however.
EchoStar Communications, a direct broadcast satellite television service,
contributed to performance, as did DeVry Inc., a provider of career-oriented
technology-based education programs.
Summary
Again, the Fund's good results were driven more by individual stock selection
than by the weighting given to various sectors. Because we employ a
fundamentally research-driven, bottom-up approach to portfolio management, the
Fund's results are consistent with our aggressive growth-oriented investment
philosophy. Every day presents us with new opportunities among medium-size
emerging growth stocks. Rarely have there been so many companies addressing such
open-ended business opportunities as there are today. So, whether or not mid-cap
stocks continue to outperform as they have over the past year, we look forward
each day to the prospect of identifying and investing in those that are on their
way to becoming the widely recognized, large, established growth stocks of the
future.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The S&P Mid Cap 400 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested,
and is generally representative of the market for mid-sized companies. One
cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 29
Berger Funds 29
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Mid Cap Growth Fund
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Mid Cap Growth Fund
vs. S&P Mid Cap 400 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 95.98%
Life of Fund (8/12/98) 70.58%
Berger Mid Cap Value Fund $43,430
S&P Mid Cap 400 Index $16,683
[GRAPH]
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance shown
reflects the unusually favorable market conditions that existed in 1999 which
likely are not sustainable as market conditions change. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost. IPO's have made a significant contribution to
the Fund's recent performance. There can be no assurance that such contribution
will continue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (93.94%)
Banks - West/Southwest (1.26%)
26,530 Silicon Valley Bancshares* $ 1,544,957
--------------
Commercial Services - Advertising (0.52%)
7,910 TMP Worldwide, Inc.* 636,755
--------------
Commercial Services - Miscellaneous (1.09%)
26,940 Young & Rubicam, Inc. 1,333,530
--------------
Commercial Services - Schools (1.49%)
48,470 DeVry, Inc.* 1,823,683
--------------
Computer - Services (1.52%)
57,890 Internap Network Services Corp.* 1,870,570
--------------
Computer Software - Desktop (1.31%)
19,870 Macromedia,Inc.* 1,605,744
--------------
Computer Software - Educational/Entertainment (1.74%)
45,050 Smartforce PLC - Spon. ADR* 2,134,243
--------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (93.94%) - continued
Computer Software - Enterprise (3.69%)
20,970 Intertrust Technologies Corp.* $ 252,950
20,300 Mercury Interactive Corp.* 3,182,025
10,000 Resonate, Inc.* 395,000
7,500 SignalSoft Corp.* 304,687
20,000 Talarian Corp.* 383,750
--------------
4,518,412
--------------
Computer Software - Security (1.71%)
27,930 Internet Security Systems, Inc.* 2,098,241
--------------
Electronics - Laser Systems/Components (1.22%)
35,000 Bookman Technology PLC -
Spon. ADR* 1,500,625
--------------
Electronics - Scientific Instruments (4.71%)
25,000 Newport Corp.* 3,981,640
15,370 PE Corp. - PE Biosystems Group 1,790,605
--------------
5,772,245
--------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 30
30
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Mid Cap
Growth Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (93.94%) - continued
Electronics - Semiconductor Equipment (0.93%)
13,250 ASM Lithography Holding NV -
NY Reg.* $ 428,140
34,080 Lam Research Corp.* 713,550
--------------
1,141,690
--------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (4.24%)
7,820 Applied Micro Circuits Corp.* 1,619,228
15,000 Globalspan, Inc.* 1,830,000
12,500 Linear Technology Corp. 809,375
4,340 PMC-Sierra, Inc.* 934,185
--------------
5,192,788
--------------
Energy - Other (0.48%)
20,400 Proton Energy Systems, Inc.* 583,950
--------------
Finance - Investment Brokers (0.88%)
30,000 Knight Trading Group, Inc.* 1,080,000
--------------
Financial Services - Miscellaneous (1.45%)
25,000 CheckFree Corp.* 1,047,265
18,510 Metris Companies, Inc. 731,145
--------------
1,778,410
--------------
Internet - ISP/Content (1.88%)
9,990 Akamai Technologies,Inc. 524,631
70,190 Evoke Communications, Inc.* 460,621
33,350 RealNetworks, Inc.* 1,325,662
--------------
2,310,914
--------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (3.87%)
10,000 Cacheflow, Inc.* 1,430,000
41,620 Sapient Corp.* 1,693,413
7,990 VeriSign, Inc.* 1,618,474
--------------
4,741,887
--------------
Internet - Software (12.34%)
49,030 Agile Software Corp.* 4,409,635
9,770 Ariba, Inc.* 1,399,705
18,690 Blue Martini Software, Inc.* 633,123
25,542 Cosine Communications, Inc.* 1,419,177
21,700 Docent, Inc.* 397,381
92,740 Evolve Software, Inc.* 2,225,760
24,000 Quest Software, Inc.* 1,490,625
9,360 Software.com, Inc.* 1,698,255
48,440 Vignette Corp.* 1,447,145
--------------
15,120,806
--------------
Media - Cable TV (2.02%)
24,190 Cox Communications, Inc.* - Class A 925,267
29,400 EchoStar Communications Corp. -
Class A* 1,550,850
--------------
2,476,117
--------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (93.94%) - continued
Media - Radio/TV (6.04%)
15,836 Clear Channel
Communications, Inc.* $ 894,734
129,900 Cox Radio, Inc. - Class A* 2,265,131
64,890 Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.* 1,808,808
50,370 Pegasus Communications Corp.* 2,433,500
--------------
7,402,173
--------------
Medical - Biomedical/Genetics (11.72%)
79,280 Antigenics, Inc.* 1,169,380
47,670 Cephalon, Inc.* 2,311,995
26,900 Genencor International, Inc.* 796,938
13,270 Genentech, Inc.* 2,464,073
7,150 IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp.* 1,253,819
5,630 Illumina, Inc.* 255,461
45,720 Invitrogen Corp.* 3,251,835
19,230 Medarex, Inc.* 2,255,919
7,880 Medimmune, Inc.* 608,730
--------------
14,368,150
--------------
Medical - Drugs/Diversified (1.67%)
60,000 Medicines Co.* 2,051,250
--------------
Medical - Instruments (2.55%)
32,770 Alcara BioSciences, Inc.* 995,388
83,810 Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.* 2,126,678
--------------
3,122,066
--------------
Medical - Products (1.33%)
12,000 Caliper Technologies Corp.*@o 647,973
65,070 Durect Corp.* 976,050
--------------
1,624,023
--------------
Medical - Wholesale Drugs/Sundries (0.88%)
76,170 Allscripts, Inc.* 1,075,901
--------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (4.97%)
63,040 ENSCO International, Inc. 2,411,280
40,000 Nabors Industries, Inc.* 2,096,000
31,550 Noble Drilling Corp.* 1,585,387
--------------
6,092,667
--------------
Oil & Gas - Field Services (2.10%)
17,830 BJ Services Co.* 1,089,858
51,420 Veritas DGC, Inc.* 1,487,966
--------------
2,577,824
--------------
Oil & Gas - Machinery/Equipment (2.05%)
51,230 Grant Prideco, Inc.* 1,123,858
32,160 Weatherford International, Inc.* 1,382,880
--------------
2,506,738
--------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 31
Berger Funds 31
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (93.94%) - continued
Retail - Discount & Variety (1.37%)
41,270 Dollar Tree Stores, Inc.* $ 1,674,014
--------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (9.41%)
22,480 Corvis Corp.* 1,372,333
20,000 New Focus, Inc.* 1,581,250
10,000 Oni Systems Corp.* 863,125
31,950 Powerwave Technologies, Inc.* 1,213,101
7,340 Redback Networks, Inc.* 1,203,301
3,950 SDL, Inc.* 1,216,600
8,586 Sycamore Networks, Inc.* 927,288
44,250 Triton Network Systems, Inc.* 580,781
12,140 Tycom Ltd.* 465,872
31,850 Virata Corp.* 2,106,081
--------------
11,529,732
--------------
Telecommunications - Services (1.24%)
30,000 Floware Wireless Systems Ltd.* 747,187
54,130 McLeodUSA, Inc. - Class A* 774,735
--------------
1,521,922
--------------
Utility - Electric Power (0.26%)
10,240 Southern Energy, Inc.* 321,280
--------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $94,387,870) 115,133,307
--------------
Preferred Stock - Convertible (0.38%)
Telecommunications - Equipment (0.38%)
53,521 Cidera, Inc.*@o 468,281
--------------
Total Preferred Stock - Convertible
(Cost $468,282) 468,281
--------------
U.S. Government Agency Obligations (1.14%)
$1,400,000 FHLMA Discount Note -
6.20%, 10/2/2000 1,399,758
--------------
Total U.S. Government Agency Obligations
(Cost $1,399,758) 1,399,758
--------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Par Value Value
--------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Repurchase Agreement (4.58%)
$5,610,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $5,612,955 on
October 2, 2000, collateralized by
FNMA Agency Note, 6.50% -
August 15, 2004 with a value of
$5,723,475 $ 5,610,000
--------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $5,610,000) 5,610,000
--------------
Total Investments (Cost $101,865,910) (100.04%) 122,611,346
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (-0.04%) (47,050)
--------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $ 122,564,296
--------------
</TABLE>
*Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
PLC - Public Limited Company.
FHLMA - Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
@ - Security valued at fair value determined in good faith pursuant to
procedures established by and under the supervision of the Fund's trustees.
o Schedule of Restricted Securities and/or Illiquid Securities
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Fair Value
Date Fair as a %
Acquired Cost Value of Net Assets
-------- ---- ----- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Caliper
Technologies
Corp. -
Common Stock 8/23/2000 $576,000 $647,973 0.53%
Cidera, Inc. -
Preferred Stock 9/1/2000 $468,282 $468,281 0.38%
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 32
32
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol BEMVX
Fund Number 216
Berger Mid Cap PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY THOMAS M. PERKINS
Value Fund ROBERT H. PERKINS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
For the year ended September 30, 2000, the Berger Mid Cap Value Fund (the
"Fund") gained 31.11%, compared with 43.22% for the Standard & Poor's (S&P)
MidCap 400 Index(1) 25.46% for the S&P MidCap Value Index(2) and 13.27% for the
S&P 500 Index(3). The Fund outpaced most of these indexes primarily because we
purchased severely depressed technology and energy stocks in late 1998 and early
1999 and we subsequently had strong appreciation in those stocks. The Fund
underperformed the S&P MidCap 400 Index because it has a larger weighting in
growth stocks.
After six years of underperformance, mid-cap and small-cap stocks outdistanced
large caps during the past 12 months. Additionally, as the performance of
high-momentum growth stocks is waning, investor interest is returning to value
stocks. This observation is buttressed by the historically large valuation
differential that exists between growth and value and between large- and
small-cap stocks. The attractive valuations of smaller stocks have generated a
record level of corporate acquisitions. During the year, about 8% of our
portfolio had acquisitions announced. With the economy and earnings growth
slowing, we believe the risk/reward prospects for our portfolio, which sells at
less than 15 times 2000 estimated earnings and 2.2 times book value, are
considerably better than those of the major market benchmarks.
Period in Review
Over the past six months, we increased our consumer cyclical weighting by adding
new positions in Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh Products and RPM and registering
substantial appreciation in existing homebuilder stocks. Our new positions sell
at less than 10 times 2000 estimated earnings and 2 times book value, are more
than 40% off their 12-month high prices and have good balance sheets.
Our largest sector weighting has always been financials, and our patience was
well rewarded this year. Insurance stocks had been selling below book value,
but, with an apparent upswing in industry pricing, our three insurance holdings
appreciated more than 40% this year. REITs and brokerage stocks were also
strong, and we used this strength to reduce our holdings.
While technology stocks penalized Fund performance recently, they were positive
over the last 12 months. We have been consistent sellers in this area all year
as many stocks appreciated to what we believed were fully valued levels. Since
the end of March, we eliminated Novellus, Tektronix, Convergys, Complete
Business Solutions, Silicon Graphics and Loral. The first three were up more
than 100% from when we purchased them; we had relatively small losses in the
latter three companies due to fundamental shortfalls. As a result of these
transactions, our technology exposure dropped to its lowest level since the
Fund's inception. Toward the end of the year, with many technology stocks down
more than 50% from their highs and selling at 10 times expected earnings, we
began to reinvest in this area once again. Some of these purchases might be
premature, as they were in 1998 and early 1999, but we believe the long-term
risk/reward relationship is very favorable.
Energy stocks continued to be strong. Because we believe the price of oil has
risen at an unsustainable pace, we also believe risk levels in these stocks have
risen. Therefore, we eliminated our positions in Devon, Nobel and Barrett. We
used some of these sale proceeds to establish a position in USX Marathon Group,
which sells at about 10 times earnings, is up less than 20% this year and has
promising new management.
Among the weakest stocks in the portfolio were the IT staffing companies,
especially Spherion and Computer Horizons. Also down this period were some
consumer stocks such as Federated Department Stores and Hasbro. Although these
companies have had disappointing earnings as a group, they are selling at less
than 10 times estimated 2001 earnings, have good balance sheets and have active
stock buy back programs. Although they have been disappointing, we are
maintaining positions in these stocks.
Summary
Since January, our Fund has had positive returns while major market averages
have declined. We believe this could continue for some time as earnings growth
subsides and historically high valuation differentials compress to more normal
levels. The major risk to mid cap and smaller cap stocks is a
greater-than-projected economic slowdown. However, even in that scenario, we are
more comfortable with smaller value stocks than with much more expensive large
cap growth equities.
We believe mid cap value stocks will continue to benefit as investors redeploy
cash flows away from large cap stocks. We will remain selective in our
investing, taking advantage of opportunities created by temporary dislocations.
With patience, these good quality stocks that are temporarily out of favor
provide the possibility of long-term gain.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The S&P MidCap 400 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested,
and is generally representative of the market for mid-sized companies. One
cannot invest directly in an index.
(2) The S&P MidCap Value Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested,
and is generally representative of the market for value stocks of mid-sized
companies. One cannot invest directly in an index.
(3) The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested, which
consists of the common stocks of 500 publicly traded U.S. companies. It is a
generally recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of the U.S.
stock market. One cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 33
Berger Funds 33
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Mid Cap Value Fund
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Mid Cap Value Fund
vs. S&P Mid Cap 400 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF September 30, 2000
One Year 31.11%
Life of Fund (8/12/98) 24.71%
Berger Mid Cap Value Fund $16,040
S&P Mid Cap 400 Index $15,996
[GRAPH]
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.69%)
Aerospace/Defense (1.77%)
9,000 Litton Industries,Inc. $ 402,187
2,000 Northrop Grumman Corp. 181,750
--------------
583,937
--------------
Auto/Truck - Original Equipment (1.14%)
9,000 Tecumseh Products Co. - Class A 376,875
--------------
Banks - Midwest (1.49%)
18,750 Associated Banc-Corp. 492,187
--------------
Banks - Northeast (1.46%)
9,000 Wilmington Trust Corp. 482,625
--------------
Banks - Southeast (2.21%)
17,000 Compass Bancshares, Inc. 331,500
20,000 National Commerce Bancorp. 398,750
--------------
730,250
--------------
Banks - West/Southwest (0.47%)
4,000 City National Corp. 154,500
--------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.69%) - continued
Building - Cement/Concrete/Aggregates (0.76%)
3,500 Southdown, Inc. $ 249,375
--------------
Building - Construction Products/Miscellaneous (0.62%)
11,000 Masco Corp. 204,875
--------------
Building - Hand Tools (1.21%)
17,000 Snap-On, Inc. 400,562
--------------
Building - Paint & Allied Products (3.04%)
33,000 RPM, Inc. 299,062
33,000 Sherwin-Williams Co. 705,375
--------------
1,004,437
--------------
Building - Residential/Commercial (3.74%)
22,000 Centex Corp. 706,750
16,000 Pulte Corp. 528,000
--------------
1,234,750
--------------
Building Products - Wood (2.86%)
15,000 Georgia-Pacific Corp. (Timber Group) 403,125
15,000 Rayonier, Inc. 539,062
--------------
942,187
--------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 34
34
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Mid Cap Value Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.69%) - continued
Chemicals - Plastics (0.93%)
28,000 Schulman (A.), Inc. $ 308,000
--------------
Chemicals - Specialty (1.27%)
15,000 Hercules, Inc. 211,875
14,000 Millennium Chemicals, Inc. 207,375
--------------
419,250
--------------
Commercial - Leasing Companies (1.27%)
22,000 Comdisco, Inc. 419,375
--------------
Commercial Services - Security/Safety (1.01%)
12,500 Diebold, Inc. 332,031
--------------
Commercial Services - Staffing (1.59%)
16,890 kforce.com, Inc.* 59,115
39,000 Spherion Corp.* 465,562
--------------
524,677
--------------
Computer - Graphics (1.23%)
16,000 Autodesk, Inc. 406,000
--------------
Computer - Peripheral Equipment (1.15%)
19,000 Adaptec, Inc. 380,000
--------------
Computer - Services (2.08%)
40,000 Computer Horizons Corp.* 272,500
20,000 IMS Health, Inc. 415,000
--------------
687,500
--------------
Computer Software - Enterprise (3.52%)
45,000 AVT Corp.* 250,312
15,000 Keane, Inc.* 261,000
25,000 Progress Software Corp.* 340,625
19,000 Structural Dynamics Research Corp.* 311,125
--------------
1,163,062
--------------
Containers (0.32%)
10,000 Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc. 106,875
--------------
Diversified Operations (0.84%)
14,000 Federal Signal Corp. 278,250
--------------
Electrical - Connectors (0.87%)
6,500 Methode Electronics, Inc. - Class A 288,031
--------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Equipment (1.17%)
11,000 Teradyne, Inc.* 385,000
--------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.69%) - continued
Finance - Equity REIT (7.28%)
19,000 Archstone Communities Trust $ 466,687
11,000 First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. 338,250
18,000 Highwoods Properties, Inc. 425,250
18,500 Liberty Property Trust 508,750
14,000 Mack-Cali Realty Corp. 394,625
12,000 Plum Creek Timber Co., Inc. 267,750
--------------
2,401,312
--------------
Finance - Investment Brokers (2.83%)
10,500 Legg Mason, Inc. 610,312
2,200 Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. 325,050
--------------
935,362
--------------
Finance - Public Investment Funds/Foreign (1.63%)
20,000 Emerging Markets Telecom Fund* 245,000
31,000 MSDW Asia Pacific Fund 292,562
--------------
537,562
--------------
Financial Services - Miscellaneous (1.30%)
15,000 Heller Financial, Inc. 428,437
--------------
Household/Office Furniture (1.02%)
23,000 La-Z-Boy, Inc. 334,937
--------------
Insurance - Property/Casualty/Title (5.46%)
14,000 Everest Re Group Ltd. 693,000
30,000 IPC Holdings Ltd. 555,000
23,000 Old Republic International Corp. 553,437
--------------
1,801,437
--------------
Leisure - Toys/Games/Hobby (1.01%)
14,500 Hasbro, Inc. 165,843
15,000 Mattel, Inc. 167,812
--------------
333,655
--------------
Machinery - General Industrial (1.60%)
14,000 Briggs & Stratton Corp. 529,375
--------------
Media - Newspapers (0.64%)
12,500 Hollinger International, Inc. 209,375
--------------
Medical - Ethical Drugs (1.00%)
6,000 Elan Corp. PLC - Spon. ADR 328,500
--------------
Medical - Hospitals (0.69%)
11,000 Health Management Associates, Inc. -
Class A* 228,937
--------------
Medical - Nursing Homes (1.85%)
39,000 Manor Care, Inc.* 611,812
--------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 35
Berger Funds 35
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.69%) - continued
Medical - Outpatient/Home Care (1.23%)
50,000 Heathsouth Corp.* $ 406,250
------------
Medical/Dental/Services (1.95%)
40,000 Omnicare, Inc. 645,000
------------
Medical/Dental - Supplies (0.95%)
26,180 Steris Corp.* 314,160
------------
Office - Equipment & Automation (0.82%)
11,000 HON Industries, Inc. 270,875
------------
Office Supplies Manufacturing (1.51%)
25,000 The Reynolds & Reynolds Co. -
Class A 496,875
------------
Oil & Gas - Field Services (2.17%)
73,000 Key Energy Services, Inc.* 716,325
------------
Oil & Gas - International Specialty (1.18%)
6,000 Murphy Oil Corp. 388,875
------------
Oil & Gas - Production/Pipeline (1.41%)
11,000 Williams Cos., Inc. 464,750
------------
Oil & Gas - U.S. Exploration & Production (2.70%)
8,000 Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. -
Class A 373,000
14,000 Noble Affiliates,Inc. 519,750
------------
892,750
------------
Oil & Gas - U.S. Integrated (3.55%)
7,000 Kerr-McGee Corp. 463,750
25,000 USX - Marathon Group, Inc. 709,375
------------
1,173,125
------------
Retail - Apparel/Shoe (1.44%)
33,000 Ross Stores, Inc. 474,375
------------
Retail - Department Stores (0.99%)
12,500 Federated Department Stores, Inc.* 326,562
------------
Retail - Major Discount Chains (0.44%)
9,000 Toys R Us, Inc.* 146,250
------------
Shoes & Related Apparel (1.27%)
45,000 Wolverine World Wide, Inc. 419,062
------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (0.53%)
8,500 Aspect Communications Corp.* 175,312
------------
Telecommunications - Services (1.27%)
3,800 Telephone & Data Systems, Inc.* 420,660
------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (95.69%) - continued
Transportation - Rail (1.85%)
18,000 CSX Corp. $ 392,625
25,000 Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc.* 217,187
------------
609,812
------------
Transportation - Truck (1.75%)
26,000 CNF Transportation, Inc. 578,500
------------
Trucks & Parts - Heavy Duty (0.63%)
12,000 Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc. 209,250
------------
Utility - Electric Power (0.89%)
11,000 Kansas City Power & Light Co. 293,562
------------
Utility - Gas Distribution (2.04%)
12,000 National Fuel Gas Co. 672,750
------------
Utility - Telephone (0.79%)
3,300 Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras
SA - ADR* 261,112
------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $27,883,891) 31,591,504
------------
Rights (0.00%)
Utility - Telephone (0.00%)
132 Telesp Celular Participacoes SA* --
------------
Total Rights
(Cost $0) --
------------
Warrants (0.32%)
Retail - Department Stores (0.32%)
23,000 Federated Department Stores, Inc. - D* 104,937
------------
Total Warrants
(Cost $224,552) 104,937
------------
Repurchase Agreement (4.50%)
$1,484,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $1,484,782
on October 2, 2000, collateralized
by FNMA Agency Note, 6.25% -
May 15, 2029 with a value of
$1,516,000 1,484,000
------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $1,484,000) 1,484,000
------------
Total Investments (Cost $29,592,443) (100.51%) 33,180,441
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (-0.51%) (167,666)
------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $ 33,012,775
------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
PLC - Public Limited Company.
REIT - Real Estate Investment Trust.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 36
36
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol BEONX
Berger Fund Number 43
Growth Fund PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY JAY W. TRACEY III
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Growth Fund ("the Fund") had a very good fiscal year ended September
30, 2000, gaining 60.93% compared with 13.27% and 33.74% for the Standard &
Poor's (S&P) 500 Index(1) and the Nasdaq Composite Index,(2) respectively. This
solid performance was driven primarily by stock selection, although our
relatively aggressive weighting in technology also helped.
Period in Review
The Fund's technology holdings contributed more than any other sector to the
Fund's good results. The Fund benefited from the performance of companies that
supply infrastructure for the Internet build-out. Component suppliers Applied
Micro Circuits, SDL Inc., Corning and JDS Uniphase and equipment suppliers Cisco
Systems, Juniper Networks and Sycamore Networks all did very well. We remain
bullish on many of the component and equipment companies that are supplying
innovative, market-leading solutions to service providers, which are, in turn,
aggressively deploying those solutions to meet an insatiable demand for
increased bandwidth.
Companies meeting the rapidly growing demand for data storage solutions also
contributed positively to performance, notably EMC Corp., the leader in
enterprise storage systems; Network Appliance, which makes specialized devices
designed to provide file service for data-intensive networks; and Veritas
Software, the leader in data storage management software. The Fund also
benefited from companies supplying leading-edge software solutions that take
advantage of the Internet to deliver competitive advantages to their customers.
Among the better performers were Verisign, which provides digital certificate
services that secure e-commerce and communications over the Internet; Siebel
Systems, the leader in customer relationship management software that automates
corporate sales forces; and Agile Software, whose collaborative software
products help automate commerce between manufacturers and their suppliers and
customers. Surveys of information technology managers at major companies confirm
that e-commerce spending, which has been strong all year, should continue to
grow rapidly for the foreseeable future. We remain, therefore, optimistic about
the outlook for select vendors of e-commerce solutions and view corrections as
buying opportunities.
Elsewhere in technology, semiconductor and semiconductor equipment stocks such
as Intel, Applied Materials, KLA-Tencor and Lam Research, strong early in the
year, weakened considerably in the last few months. We significantly reduced our
exposure to this industry in a timely fashion. Microsoft has been disappointing,
but we continue to hold this leading company in anticipation of accelerating
sales of Windows 2000 next year. Technology is an exciting but risky area in
which to invest because the pace of change is so fast, the market is so
competitive and the stocks are so volatile. Nevertheless, we remain overweighted
in this increasingly important sector, and we will continue to focus on
innovative companies with strong, forward-looking management teams, leading
products or services, defensible barriers to competition and rapidly growing,
sustainable revenues and earnings.
In healthcare, the Fund has benefited from its focus on biotechnology and
selected pharmaceuticals. Fund winners included Genentech, PE Corp.-PE
Biosystems Group, Amgen and American Home Products. Bristol Myers Squibb was our
main disappointment and has been sold. Because of regulatory, reimbursement and
pricing uncertainties, especially as we approach the elections, we have been
underweighted and very selective in the healthcare sector. We are positive on a
long-term basis, however, and favor those companies that have innovative new
products coming onto the market that we believe may generate substantial new
revenue and shareholder value.
Energy services holdings such as ENSCO International and Nabors Industries were
strong, reflecting positive supply/demand fundamentals. Though it is tempting to
take some profits, we have elected to stay with this winning sector because the
earnings outlook is only getting brighter.
Generally, the consumer sector was disappointing. In particular, the Fund's
radio broadcasting stocks were down as advertising revenues slowed over the
latter half of the fiscal year. Although this trend is likely to persist for
another quarter or two, we are holding higher-quality companies such as Clear
Channel Communications and Hispanic Broadcasting, which now offer good value. In
the retail sector, very few companies showed good results, and the Fund's
results, likewise, were mixed. We had some success in Radio Shack, but Best Buy
and Circuit City were disappointing and were sold. In general, retail sales
trends have been lackluster, and we continue to be underweighted in this sector.
Summary
Again, the Fund's good results were driven more by individual stock selection
than by the weighting given to various sectors. Because we employ a
fundamentally research-driven, bottom-up approach to portfolio management, the
Fund's results are consistent with our growth-oriented investment philosophy.
Every day presents us with new opportunities in rapidly growing companies.
Rarely have there been so many companies addressing such open-ended business
opportunities as there are today. Regardless of the stock market's short-term
ups and downs, we are excited about the fundamental outlook for the great growth
companies that are leading us into the future, and we will continue to focus on
the best of them.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested, which
consists of the common stocks of 500 publicly traded U.S. companies. It is a
generally recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of the U.S.
stock market. One cannot invest directly in an index.
(2) The Nasdaq Composite Index is an unmanaged index, which consists of the
common stocks of over 5000 companies. It is a generally recognized indicator
used to measure overall performance of the U.S. stock market. One cannot invest
directly in an index.
<PAGE> 37
Berger Funds 37
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Growth Fund
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Growth Fund
vs. S&P 500 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 60.93%
Five Year 21.01%
Ten Year 23.39%
Berger Growth Fund $81,806
S&P 500 Index $58,987
[GRAPH]
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C>
Common Stock (98.95%)
Computer - Manufacturers (3.71%)
529,380 Handspring, Inc.* $ 36,560,306
306,418 Sun Microsystems, Inc.* 35,774,301
------------
72,334,607
------------
Computer - Memory Devices (5.90%)
596,278 EMC Corp.* 59,106,056
422,920 Network Appliance, Inc.* 53,869,435
18,380 StorageNetworks, Inc. 1,878,206
------------
114,853,697
------------
Computer Software - Desktop (1.99%)
642,910 Microsoft Corp.* 38,735,327
------------
Computer Software - Enterprise (4.79%)
76,687 Oracle Corp. Japan 17,667,231
418,160 Siebel Systems, Inc.* 46,546,435
204,869 VERITAS Software Corp.* 29,091,398
------------
93,305,064
------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.95%) - continued
Electronics - Military Systems (1.33%)
698,730 General Motors Corp. - Class H* $ 25,978,781
------------
Electronics - Miscellaneous Components (0.78%)
485,646 RF Micro Devices, Inc.* 15,237,143
------------
Electronics - Miscellaneous Products (1.32%)
295,680 Gemstar - TV Guide
International, Inc.* 25,779,600
------------
Electronics - Scientific Instruments (1.53%)
255,170 PE Corp. - PE Biosystems Group 29,727,305
------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Equipment (2.37%)
491,216 Applied Materials, Inc.* 29,135,249
387,574 ASM Lithography Holding NV -
NY Reg.* 12,523,484
131,160 Teradyne, Inc.* 4,590,600
------------
46,249,333
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 38
38
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger
Growth Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.95%) - continued
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (6.98%)
274,240 Analog Devices, Inc. $ 22,641,940
333,280 Applied Micro Circuits Corp.* 69,009,790
285,248 Intel Corp. 11,855,620
680,985 STMicroelectronics NV - NY Shares* 32,431,910
------------
135,939,260
------------
Finance - Investment Brokers (1.61%)
884,325 Schwab (Charles) Corp. 31,393,537
------------
Financial Services - Miscellaneous (1.12%)
157,780 Capital One Financial Corp. 11,054,461
84,240 Providian Financial Corp. 10,698,480
------------
21,752,941
------------
Household - Audio/Video (0.97%)
187,472 Sony Corp. - Spon. ADR 18,922,955
------------
Internet - ISP/Content (3.07%)
581,488 America Online, Inc.* 31,254,980
190,300 Infospace, Inc.* 5,756,575
193,375 Internet Initiative Japan Inc. -
Spon. ADR* 7,952,546
164,014 Yahoo!, Inc.* 14,925,274
------------
59,889,375
------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (9.08%)
1,137,792 Cisco Systems, Inc.* 62,863,008
208,980 Juniper Networks, Inc.* 45,753,558
303,840 Sapient Corp.* 12,362,490
275,740 VeriSign, Inc.* 55,854,583
------------
176,833,639
------------
Internet - Software (2.36%)
348,190 Agile Software Corp.* 31,315,338
487,860 Vignette Corp.* 14,574,817
------------
45,890,155
------------
Media - Cable TV (5.11%)
1,066,220 AT&T Corp. - Liberty Media Group -
Class A* 19,191,960
976,530 EchoStar Communications Corp. -
Class A* 51,511,957
369,546 Time Warner, Inc. 28,916,974
------------
99,620,891
------------
Media - Radio/TV (2.07%)
438,402 Clear Channel Communications, Inc.* 24,769,713
560,910 Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.* 15,635,366
------------
40,405,079
------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.95%) - continued
Medical - Biomedical/Genetics (5.72%)
483,389 Amgen, Inc.* $ 33,754,147
272,663 Genentech, Inc.* 50,630,110
620,900 Immunex Corp.* 27,009,150
------------
111,393,407
------------
Medical - Ethical Drugs (3.07%)
729,172 American Home Products Corp. 41,243,791
410,130 Pfizer, Inc. 18,430,216
------------
59,674,007
------------
Medical - Products (1.32%)
364,480 Guidant Corp.* 25,764,180
------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (5.40%)
1,027,507 ENSCO International, Inc. 39,302,142
939,928 Nabors Industries, Inc.* 49,252,227
283,391 Transocean Sedco Forex, Inc. 16,613,797
------------
105,168,166
------------
Oil & Gas - Field Services (2.23%)
421,987 Halliburton Co. 20,650,988
276,569 Schlumberger Ltd. 22,765,085
------------
43,416,073
------------
Oil & Gas - Production/Pipeline (1.45%)
323,167 Enron Corp. 28,317,528
------------
Retail - Apparel/Shoe (0.47%)
411,970 Limited, Inc. 9,089,088
------------
Retail - Major Discount Chains (1.03%)
574,286 Costco Wholesale Corp.* 20,064,117
------------
Retail/Wholesale Computers/Cellular (1.00%)
300,000 RadioShack Corp. 19,387,500
------------
Telecommunications - Cellular (1.44%)
241,004 VoiceStream Wireless Corp.* 27,971,526
------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (15.47%)
249,610 Corning, Inc. 74,134,170
364,730 Corvis Corp.* 22,265,626
278,332 JDS Uniphase Corp.* 26,354,561
1,128,968 Nokia Corp. - Spon. ADR 44,947,038
459,620 Nortel Networks Corp. 27,376,116
191,350 Redback Networks, Inc.* 31,369,440
152,282 SDL,Inc.* 46,902,856
259,603 Sycamore Networks, Inc.* 28,037,124
------------
301,386,931
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 39
Berger Funds 39
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (98.95%) - continued
Telecommunications - Services (3.99%)
1,338 NTT DoCoMo, Inc. $ 38,407,335
690,350 Qwest Communications
International, Inc.* 33,179,946
241,800 Sonera Corp. - Spon. ADR 6,105,450
--------------
77,692,731
--------------
Utilities - Electric Power (0.27%)
165,600 Southern Energy, Inc. 5,195,700
--------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $1,295,932,934) 1,927,369,643
--------------
Repurchase Agreement (1.38%)
$26,793,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $26,807,111 on
October 2, 2000, collateralized by
FHLB Agency Note, 6.00% -
August 15, 2002 with a value of
$27,329,733 26,793,000
--------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $26,793,000) 26,793,000
--------------
Total Investments (Cost $1,322,725,934) (100.33%) 1,954,162,643
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (-0.33%) (6,390,160)
--------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $1,947,772,483
--------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
FHLB - Federal Home Loan Bank.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 40
40
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol BBINX
Fund Number 349
Berger PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY BANK OF IRELAND ASSET
International Fund MANAGEMENT (U.S) LTD.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger International Fund (the "Fund") gained 9.43% for the year ended
September 30, 2000, compared with the 3.42% gain for its benchmark, the MSCI
EAFE Index.(1)
World equity markets registered exceptional gains toward the end of 1999, fueled
by a combination of low interest rates and rising commodity prices. There was
significant divergence in the performance of those markets in the first part of
2000, however. Half of the markets in the 22 countries that comprise the MSCI
World Index2 registered gains and half of the markets registered losses (as
measured in U.S. dollars). Rising interest rates in all markets except Japan
also served as a drag on returns.
Global markets continued to decline over the last six months, with the majority
of the markets in the MSCI World Index posting negative performance.
The last three months started well with a number of blue-chip European companies
posting better than expected profits for the first half of the year and economic
data revealing stronger-than-expected activity, particularly in the core
European economies. By the end of August, though, the weakness of the Euro
combined with an uptake in commodity prices, particularly energy, was pushing
producer price inflation in the Eurozone higher.
Elsewhere, poor supply-and-demand conditions have contributed to the Japanese
market's malaise this year. The Japanese markets were unable to shrug off
concerns about corporate profit growth that began with several US companies and
quickly rippled around the world. Other Asian markets remained sluggish, despite
good economic indicators in Hong Kong.
Period in Review
For the first six months of the fiscal year, performance was aided by the Fund's
investment in telecommunications, media and technology stocks. But over the last
six months, performance was hurt by these same investments. The most significant
decline came from stocks in the Growth in Telecommunications theme. Telecom
Italia, which had performed well earlier this year, succumbed to the general
sector sentiment and fell sharply during the last three months, despite
reporting earnings in line with market expectations. Koninklijke KPN NV and
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson were two other holdings that performed well in
the first half of the fiscal year, but took a dive in the second half of the
fiscal year. KPN was dogged by several concerns, including disappointing
earnings news. Ericsson, who holds nearly half of all third-generation mobile
license contracts that have been awarded to date, was hit hard when concerns
emerged that profit margins on these contracts may come under some pressure.
Semiconductor companies were impacted globally as sales of personal computer and
mobile phone handsets slowed. This negatively impacted two Japanese-quoted
companies in the Restructuring Opportunities theme, NEC and Hitachi. Although
neither company is a pure semiconductor play, they were unable to avoid the
sector's general downturn despite significant earnings upgrades announced by
both companies in September.
On a more upbeat note, stocks in the Asian Cyclical Recovery theme performed
well, led by Hong Kong-quoted companies. Competition has reduced mortgage costs
in Hong Kong over the past two years, and residential property prices and
transaction volumes are rising. Cheung Kong and Sun Hung Kai Properties, among
the region's largest property developers, were beneficiaries of this trend.
Stocks in the Growth in Healthcare Needs theme were positive most of the year,
particularly pharmaceutical stocks such as AstraZeneca, the UK pharmaceutical
company, and Glaxo Wellcome. Despite continued regulatory delays in its proposed
merger, Glaxo Wellcome was boosted by an increase in sales and profits.
Summary
Technology stocks continue to weaken relative to broader market indices, as
investors become increasingly more discriminating in selecting stocks in this
sector. The euphoria of last year has disappeared, and bankruptcies are
increasing as the availability of new capital is restricted to the more viable
enterprises. We welcome this development as a return to rationality, and we
continue to expect a consequent broadening of market performance.
The positive aspect of an economic slowdown is a more benign outlook for
interest rates. The greatest threat to this outlook comes from oil prices. To
date, oil prices have not fed through to any significant extent into broad
measures of inflation. But, if prices persist at current levels and threaten to
feed into wage rates, the outlook for interest rates would deteriorate. On
balance, we do not anticipate that this will occur; however, it does represent a
potential threat to equity and bond markets.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1)The Morgan Stanley Capital International EAFE Index represents major overseas
stock markets. It is an unmanaged index. One cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 41
Berger Funds 41
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger International Fund
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger International Fund
vs. MSCI EAFE Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 9.43%
Five Year 10.92%
Ten Year 12.91%
Berger International Fund $33,680
MSCI EAFE Index $25,831
[GRAPH]
Performance figures are historical and, in part, reflect the performance of a
pool of assets advised by BIAM (Bank of Ireland Asset Management) for periods
before the Fund commenced operations on November 7, 1996, adjusted to reflect
any increased expenses associated with operating the Fund. The asset pool was
not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and therefore was not
subject to the investment restrictions imposed by law on registered mutual
funds. If the pool had been registered, its performance might have been
adversely affected. Investments in the Fund are not insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, are not deposits and are not obligations of, or
endorsed or guaranteed in any way by, any bank. Past performance is no guarantee
of future results. Fund performance shown reflects the unusually favorable
market conditions that existed in 1999 which likely are not sustainable as
market conditions change. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate
so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original
cost.
<PAGE> 42
42
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol BEOOX
Berger Growth and Fund Number 44
Income Fund PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY STEVEN J. FOSSEL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Growth and Income Fund (the "Fund") had an exceptional year, gaining
56.09% for the year ended September 30, 2000, versus 13.27% for the Standard &
Poor's (S&P) 500 Index.1 The fact that the Fund significantly outperformed its
benchmark can be attributed to two factors--our rigorous stock selection process
and our concentration on high-quality, large-capitalization stocks with
excellent growth prospects. The Fund stayed focused all year on what we believed
were the best-positioned companies in sectors with strong growth outlooks,
especially technology, communications and energy. We remained underweighted in
more competitive, slower-growth sectors such as basic industries, capital goods
and transportation.
Period in Review
Technology, the sector in which we see the best long-term growth prospects,
continued to be the Fund's largest weighting. We recognized that Corning, Nortel
and Juniper would benefit from strong demand for bandwidth and build-out of
communications infrastructure. This build-out is being driven by consumer use of
the Internet and the demand for high bandwidth applications. Similarly, we
believe that Nokia, the leading provider of handsets, and Qwest, which has the
most complete fiber-optic network, will receive a boost from the same trends.
In other areas of technology, the Fund substantially benefited from its position
in storage companies, which, in turn, are riding the tide of growth in data
storage needs created by the burgeoning information revolution. We positioned
the Fund in leading storage companies, including EMC Corp., Network Appliance
and Veritas Software. Our holdings in semiconductor companies that serve growing
communications markets, such as Applied Micro Circuits and STMicroelectronics,
also contributed positively to the performance of the Fund this year.
Compared with the index, the Fund is overweighted in the energy sector, which is
not typical in a growth and income fund. This serves as a good counterbalance to
our technology holdings. We have positioned our energy holdings primarily in
service companies that not only can benefit from the strong supply
characteristics in the oil and natural gas markets, but that also can gain
market share and grow faster than competitors. Two of these companies, Enron and
ENSCO International, were the largest contributors to Fund performance in this
sector.
Prudent stock picking in healthcare and financial services also contributed to
the Fund's strong performance over the year. Genentech and Amgen were our
largest and best-performing healthcare holdings, reflecting both companies'
continued rollout of new and exciting products. Among financial stocks, we
continue to see more growth in capital market plays such as Schwab and Morgan
Stanley Dean Witter than in traditional banking franchises, which have been
slowed by the Federal Reserve Board's repeated interest rate increases.
On the downside, several of our retail and consumer stocks turned in
disappointing results. Among retailers, both Best Buy and Gap declined. We
believe Gap's issues will be difficult to overcome in the short term, so we
eliminated our position in this stock. We continue to hold Best Buy, however,
because we believe the company is well-positioned to benefit from consumer
electronics spending over the holiday season. Radio stocks such as Hispanic
Broadcasting underperformed because of a slowing in advertising revenues, and we
sold our position because we believed there were better uses for the Fund's
assets.
In the beginning of the year, the Fund benefited from positions in several
Japanese multinational companies such as Toyota and Sony. We took profits in the
stocks during the year and redeployed the proceeds into companies we are able to
monitor more closely through frequent management contacts.
Summary
Again the Fund's good results were driven more by individual stock selection
than by the weighting given to various sectors. Because we employ a
fundamentally research-driven, bottom-up approach to portfolio management, the
Fund's results are consistent with our growth-oriented investment philosophy.
Every day presents us with new opportunities in leading companies. Rarely have
so many blue-chip companies addressed such growth opportunities as they do
today. Regardless of the stock market's short-term ups and downs, we are excited
about the fundamental outlook for the great growth companies that are leading us
into the future, and we will continue to focus on the best of them.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested, which
consists of the common stocks of 500 publicly traded U.S. companies. It is a
generally recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of the U.S.
stock market. One cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 43
Berger Funds 43
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Growth and Income Fund
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Growth and Income Fund
vs. S&P 500 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 56.09%
Five Year 25.97%
Ten Year 23.22%
Berger Growth and Income Fund $80,690
S&P 500 Index $58,987
[GRAPH]
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance shown
reflects the unusually favorable market conditions that existed in 1999 which
likely are not sustainable as market conditions change. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (77.42%)
Banks - Money Center (1.29%)
166,700 Bank of New York Co., Inc. $ 9,345,618
--------------
Banks - Super Regional (2.78%)
201,450 Fifth Third Bancorp. 10,853,118
414,840 Firstar Corp. 9,282,045
--------------
20,135,163
--------------
Commercial Services - Advertising (0.94%)
93,880 Omnicom Group, Inc. 6,847,372
--------------
Computer - Manufacturers (1.63%)
101,012 Sun Microsystems, Inc.* 11,793,151
--------------
Computer - Memory Devices (4.50%)
156,632 EMC Corp.* 15,526,147
134,116 Network Appliance, Inc.* 17,083,025
--------------
32,609,172
--------------
Computer Software - Desktop (1.61%)
194,020 Microsoft Corp.* 11,689,705
--------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (77.42%) - continued
Computer Software - Enterprise (0.92%)
85,000 Oracle Corp.* $ 6,693,750
--------------
Diversified Operations (2.69%)
174,200 Pharmacia Corp. 10,484,662
173,830 Tyco International Ltd. 9,017,431
--------------
19,502,093
--------------
Electrical - Equipment (2.02%)
253,940 General Electric Co. 14,649,163
--------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Equipment (0.98%)
119,724 Applied Materials, Inc.* 7,101,129
--------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (5.93%)
87,260 Analog Devices, Inc.* 7,204,403
72,870 Applied Micro Circuits Corp.* 15,088,644
197,786 Intel Corp. 8,220,480
152,658 STMicroelectronics NV - NY Shares* 7,270,337
111,350 Texas Instruments, Inc. 5,254,328
--------------
43,038,192
--------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 44
44
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Growth and
Income Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (77.42%) - continued
Finance - Consumer/Commercial Loans (1.02%)
193,770 Associates First Capital Corp. -
Class A $ 7,363,260
--------------
Finance - Investment Brokers (2.68%)
123,240 Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. 11,268,757
229,470 Schwab (Charles) Corp. 8,146,185
--------------
19,414,942
--------------
Finance - Mortgage & Related Services (1.71%)
229,610 Freddie Mac 12,413,290
--------------
Internet - ISP/Content (0.65%)
51,530 Yahoo!, Inc.* 4,689,230
--------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (3.80%)
286,738 Cisco Systems, Inc.* 15,842,274
57,920 VeriSign, Inc.* 11,732,420
--------------
27,574,694
--------------
Media - Cable TV (3.99%)
564,690 AT&T Corp. - Liberty Media Group -
Class A* 10,164,420
192,570 Comcast Corp. - Special Class A* 7,883,334
138,917 Time Warner, Inc. 10,870,255
--------------
28,918,009
--------------
Media - Radio/TV (1.22%)
151,280 Viacom, Inc. - Class B* 8,849,880
--------------
Medical - Biomedical/Genetics (3.62%)
179,320 Amgen, Inc.* 12,521,579
73,900 Genentech, Inc.* 13,722,306
--------------
26,243,885
--------------
Medical - Ethical Drugs (3.77%)
284,230 American Home Products Corp. 16,076,759
250,300 Pfizer, Inc. 11,247,856
--------------
27,324,615
--------------
Medical - Products (1.16%)
119,430 Guidant Corp.* 8,442,208
--------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (2.97%)
359,530 ENSCO International, Inc. 13,752,022
149,020 Nabors Industries, Inc.* 7,808,648
--------------
21,560,670
--------------
Oil & Gas - Field Services (3.18%)
286,980 Halliburton Co. 14,044,083
109,900 Schlumberger Ltd. 9,046,143
--------------
23,090,226
--------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (77.42%) - continued
Oil & Gas - International Integrated (1.41%)
139,170 Total Fina SA - Spon. ADR $ 10,220,296
--------------
Oil & Gas - Production/Pipeline (3.16%)
188,770 Enron Corp. 16,540,971
151,090 Williams Cos., Inc. 6,383,552
--------------
22,924,523
--------------
Oil & Gas - U.S. Exploration & Production (1.25%)
136,920 Anadarko Petroleum Corp. 9,099,703
--------------
Retail - Apparel/Shoe (0.70%)
228,530 Limited, Inc. 5,041,943
--------------
Retail - Consumer Electronics (1.17%)
133,360 Best Buy Co., Inc.* 8,485,030
--------------
Retail - Major Discount Chains (0.91%)
188,830 Costco Wholesale Corp.* 6,597,248
--------------
Retail/Wholesale Computers/Cellular (1.10%)
123,330 RadioShack Corp. 7,970,201
--------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (8.96%)
65,129 Corning, Inc. 19,343,313
171,810 Lucent Technologies, Inc. 5,250,943
387,484 Nokia Corp. - Spon. ADR 15,426,706
219,840 Nortel Networks Corp. 13,094,220
61,068 QUALCOMM, Inc.* 4,351,095
69,912 Sycamore Networks, Inc.* 7,550,496
--------------
65,016,773
--------------
Telecommunications - Services (1.18%)
175,250 Nippon Telegraph &
Telephone Corp. - Spon. ADR 8,587,250
--------------
Utility - Electric Power (1.29%)
180,000 Constellation Energy Group, Inc. 8,955,000
12,100 Southern Energy, Inc.* 379,637
--------------
9,334,637
--------------
Utility - Telephone (1.23%)
171,600 ALLTEL Corp. 8,955,375
--------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $397,571,497) 561,522,396
--------------
Corporate Debt - Convertible (15.63%)
Computer Software - Enterprise (3.99%)
$3,172, 000 Siebel Systems, Inc. - 144A
5.50%, 9/15/2006 15,332,655
3,324,000 VERITAS Software Corp.
1.86%, 8/13/2006 13,661,640
--------------
28,994,295
--------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 45
Berger Funds 45
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Corporate Debt - Convertible (15.63%) - continued
Electronics - Semiconductor Equipment (0.87%)
$5,637,000 ASM Lithography Holding NV - 144A
4.25%, 11/30/2004 $ 6,341,625
--------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (0.72%)
2,698,000 Conexant Systems, Inc.
4.25%, 5/1/2006 5,193,650
--------------
Internet - ISP/Content (1.26%)
1,114,000 America Online, Inc.
4.00%, 11/15/2002 9,140,370
--------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (3.12%)
8,508,000 Juniper Networks, Inc.
4.75%, 3/15/2007 13,112,955
8,486,000 Redback Networks, Inc. - 144A
5.00%, 4/1/2007 9,504,320
--------------
22,617,275
--------------
Media - Cable TV (2.72%)
14,831,000 EchoStar Communications Corp. -
Class A - 144A
4.875%, 1/1/2007 19,706,691
--------------
Media - Radio/TV (1.74%)
11,504,000 Clear Channel Communications, Inc.
2.625%, 4/1/2003 12,625,640
--------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (0.58%)
6,061,000 Nabors Industries, Inc. - 144A
0.00%, 6/20/2020* 4,227,564
--------------
Telecommunications - Services (0.63%)
3,384,000 Level Three Communications, Inc.
6.00%, 9/15/2009 4,547,250
--------------
Total Corporate Debt - Convertible
(Cost $78,080,584) 113,394,360
--------------
Preferred Stock - Convertible (3.84%)
Telecommunications - Cellular (1.43%)
61,970 Omnipoint Corp. - 144A, 7.00% 10,348,990
--------------
Telecommunications - Services (2.41%)
221,800 Qwest Communications International,
Inc., 5.75% 17,466,750
--------------
Total Preferred Stock - Convertible
(Cost $20,891,921) 27,815,740
--------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Par Value Value
--------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Repurchase Agreement (3.47%)
$25,166,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000, to
be repurchased at $25,179,254 on
October 2, 2000, collateralized by
FFCB Agency Note, 5.88% - July 2, 2001
with a value of $25,672,894 $ 25,166,000
--------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $25,166,000) 25,166,000
--------------
Total Investments (Cost $521,710,002) (100.36%) 727,898,496
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (-0.36%) (2,625,999)
--------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $ 725,272,497
--------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
FFCB - Federal Farm Credit Bank.
144A - Resale is restricted to qualified institutional buyers.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 46
46
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Ticker Symbol BEBAX
Berger Fund Number 213
Balanced Fund PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY STEVEN L. FOSSEL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performance
The Berger Balanced Fund (the "Fund") had another year of strong performance,
gaining 30.08% for the year ended September 30, 2000, versus 13.27% for the
Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index.1 The Fund was able to outperform the S&P 500
Index even though we invest in a balance of equity and fixed-income securities.
As of September 30, 2000, the Fund was invested 63% in equities, 35% in fixed
income and 2% in cash. Compared with a year ago, this represents an increase in
the equity portion of the Fund and a decrease in cash. Market volatility
prompted these changes as it created opportunities to put cash to work in
selected high-quality growth companies priced at reasonable valuations.
Period in Review
We believe that the Fund's solid outperformance can be accounted for by prudent
stock-picking rather than by large sector betting. In keeping with our growth
philosophy, we were overweighted in technology this year and held a number of
the top-performing stocks in this sector. We recognized that Corning and Qwest
Communications International would benefit from strong demand for bandwidth and
similarly, that semiconductor chip and wireless handset manufacturers such as
QUALCOMM would receive a boost from strength in their end markets. Oracle, a
leading enterprise software company, was aided by growth in corporate
information management needs and accordingly was one of the top contributors to
the Fund's performance over the year.
Energy was another area of emphasis for the Fund. We believe that the tight
supply and demand situation for oil and natural gas will continue to create
opportunities for the best-positioned companies in this sector. Two of those
companies, Enron and Transocean Sedco Forex, Inc., contributed strongly to the
Fund's gain this year.
In both the healthcare and financial services sectors, the Fund benefited from
careful stock-picking despite our underweighting in these areas over the year.
Genentech was our largest and best-performing healthcare holding, reflecting the
continued rollout of new and exciting products. Among financial stocks, we
continue to see more growth in capital market plays such as Citigroup and Morgan
Stanley Dean Witter than in traditional banking franchises, which have been
slowed by the Federal Reserve Board's repeated interest rate increases.
On the downside, several of our retail and consumer stocks turned in
disappointing results. Among retailers, Nordstrom and Gap made merchandising
blunders that were not easily correctable, and we eliminated them from the
portfolio. Among consumer companies, Procter & Gamble and Dial experienced
slowing growth and were also sold during the year.
The fixed-income portion of the Fund continues to be positioned conservatively
to provide income and reduce risk and volatility in the overall portfolio. The
average duration and maturity remains relatively short--about three years.
Agency securities make up nearly half of the Fund's fixed-income holdings and
the other half is concentrated in investment-grade corporate bonds and U.S.
Treasury securities.
Summary
We believe the fixed-income portion of the portfolio will continue to provide
both stability and income, while the equity portion will focus on high-quality
growth investments. Strong gains on the equity side of the portfolio produced
most of the Fund's solid total return for the year. These results were driven
more by individual stock selection than by the weighting given to various
sectors. Because we employ a fundamentally research-driven, bottom-up approach
to portfolio management, the Fund's results are consistent with our
growth-oriented investment philosophy. Every day presents us with new
opportunities in high-quality companies. Rarely have there been so many
companies addressing growth opportunities as there are today. Regardless of the
stock market's short-term ups and downs, we are excited about the fundamental
outlook for blue-chip companies that are leading us into the future, and we will
continue to focus on the best of them.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
(1) The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index, with dividends reinvested, which
consists of the common stocks of 500 publicly traded U.S. companies. It is a
generally recognized indicator used to measure overall performance of the U.S.
stock market. One cannot invest directly in an index.
<PAGE> 47
Berger Funds 47
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Balanced Fund
Comparison of Change in Value of Berger Balanced Fund
vs. S&P 500 Index
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
One Year 30.08%
Life of Fund (9/30/97) 41.66%
Berger Balanced Fund $28,428
S&P 500 Index $15,787
[GRAPH]
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Fund performance shown
reflects the unusually favorable market conditions that existed in 1999 which
likely are not sustainable as market conditions change. Investment return and
principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more
or less than their original cost. Life of Fund performance includes returns for
the last quarter of 1997, which reflect a higher-than-normal level of trading
activity undertaken to pursue equity opportunities available as the Advisor was
beginning to implement the Fund's long-term approach to equity management.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (63.00%)
Banks - Money Center (1.85%)
60,653 Citigroup, Inc. $ 3,279,052
------------
Banks - Super Regional (1.94%)
55,000 Firstar Corp. 1,230,625
47,900 Wells Fargo & Co. 2,200,406
------------
3,431,031
------------
Computer - Manufacturers (1.19%)
18,000 Sun Microsystems, Inc.* 2,101,500
------------
Computer - Memory Devices (0.84%)
15,000 EMC Corp.* 1,486,875
------------
Computer Software - Desktop (1.77%)
51,960 Microsoft Corp.* 3,130,590
------------
Computer Software - Enterprise (1.93%)
43,400 Oracle Corp.* 3,417,750
------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (63.00%) - continued
Diversified Operations (2.73%)
41,388 Pharmacia Corp. $ 2,491,040
45,000 Tyco International Ltd. 2,334,387
------------
4,825,427
------------
Electrical - Equipment (3.04%)
93,150 General Electric Co. 5,373,590
------------
Electronics - Military Systems (1.77%)
84,000 General Motors Corp. - Class H* 3,123,120
------------
Electronics - Semiconductor Equipment (2.55%)
37,240 Applied Materials, Inc.* 2,208,797
39,240 ASM Lithography Holding NV -
NY Reg.* 1,267,942
49,560 Lam Research Corp.* 1,037,662
------------
4,514,401
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 48
48
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger
Balanced Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (63.00%) - continued
Electronics - Semiconductor Manufacturing (2.63%)
12,000 Analog Devices, Inc.* $ 990,750
33,800 Intel Corp. 1,404,812
47,600 Texas Instruments, Inc. 2,246,125
------------
4,641,687
------------
Finance - Investment Brokers (1.82%)
16,000 Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. 1,463,000
49,205 Schwab (Charles) Corp. 1,746,777
------------
3,209,777
------------
Finance - Mortgage & Related Services (1.01%)
33,000 Freddie Mac 1,784,062
------------
Internet - ISP/Content (1.36%)
26,800 America Online, Inc.* 1,440,500
10,600 Yahoo!, Inc.* 964,600
------------
2,405,100
------------
Internet - Network Security/Solutions (1.15%)
36,800 Cisco Systems, Inc.* 2,033,200
------------
Media - Cable TV (2.58%)
85,000 AT&T Corp. - Liberty Media Group* 1,530,000
55,000 Comcast Corp. - Special Class A 2,251,562
10,000 Time Warner, Inc. 782,500
------------
4,564,062
------------
Media - Radio/TV (0.66%)
20,000 Viacom, Inc. - Class A* 1,170,000
------------
Medical - Biomedical/Genetics (2.24%)
24,830 Amgen, Inc.* 1,733,832
12,000 Genentech, Inc.* 2,228,250
------------
3,962,082
------------
Medical - Ethical Drugs (2.88%)
42,320 American Home Products Corp. 2,393,725
60,000 Pfizer, Inc. 2,696,250
------------
5,089,975
------------
Medical - Products (1.04%)
26,000 Guidant Corp.* 1,837,875
------------
Oil & Gas - Drilling (2.50%)
40,000 Nabors Industries, Inc.* 2,096,000
39,750 Transocean Sedco Forex, Inc. 2,330,343
------------
4,426,343
------------
Oil & Gas - Field Services (1.49%)
53,790 Halliburton Co. 2,632,348
------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares Value
------ ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Common Stock (63.00%) - continued
Oil & Gas - International Integrated (1.38%)
33,340 Total Fina SA - Spon. ADR $ 2,448,406
------------
Oil & Gas - Machinery/Equipment (0.83%)
20,000 Cooper Cameron Corp.* 1,473,750
------------
Oil & Gas - Production/Pipeline (3.05%)
42,190 Enron Corp. 3,696,898
40,000 Williams Cos., Inc. 1,690,000
------------
5,386,898
------------
Oil & Gas - U.S. Exploration & Production (0.94%)
25,000 Anadarko Petroleum Corp. 1,661,500
------------
Retail - Apparel/Shoe (0.50%)
40,000 Limited, Inc. 882,500
------------
Retail - Consumer Electronics (1.38%)
38,360 Best Buy Co., Inc.* 2,440,655
------------
Retail - Drug Stores (1.33%)
61,800 Walgreen Co. 2,344,537
------------
Retail - Super/Mini-Markets (1.26%)
47,610 Safeway, Inc.* 2,222,791
------------
Retail/Wholesale Computers/Cellular (0.73%)
20,000 RadioShack Corp. 1,292,500
------------
Telecommunications - Equipment (5.27%)
11,010 Corning, Inc. 3,269,970
35,000 Lucent Technologies, Inc. 1,069,687
48,000 Motorola, Inc. 1,356,000
36,080 Nokia Corp. - Spon. ADR 1,436,435
18,000 Nortel Networks Corp. 1,072,125
15,600 QUALCOMM, Inc.* 1,111,500
------------
9,315,717
------------
Telecommunications - Services (2.78%)
75,640 Qwest Communications
International, Inc.* 3,635,447
42,000 Worldcom, Inc.* 1,275,750
------------
4,911,197
------------
Utility - Electric Power (1.40%)
50,000 Constellation Energy Group, Inc. 2,487,500
------------
Utility - Telephone (1.18%)
40,000 ALLTEL Corp. 2,087,500
------------
Total Common Stock
(Cost $91,695,198) 111,395,298
------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 49
Berger Funds 49
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger Balanced Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Par Value Value
--------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Corporate Debt - Non-Convertible (12.29%)
Banks - Foreign (0.90%)
$1,600,000 Barclays Bank PLC -
5.95%, 7/15/2001 $ 1,589,203
------------
Banks - Super Regional (1.72%)
3,000,000 Wells Fargo & Co. -
7.25%, 8/24/2005 3,039,279
------------
Computer - Manufacturers (1.09%)
2,000,000 IBM Corp. -
5.625%, 4/12/2004 1,931,450
------------
Finance - Consumer/Commercial Loans (3.90%)
2,000,000 Boeing Capital Corp. -
6.21%, 8/15/2003 1,956,900
2,000,000 Ford Motor Credit Corp. -
6.125%, 4/28/2003 1,956,846
2,000,000 General Electric Capital Corp. -
5.89%, 5/11/2001 1,991,244
1,000,000 General Motors Acceptance Corp. -
5.60%, 4/30/2002 981,566
------------
6,886,556
------------
Finance - Investment Brokers (1.43%)
1,045,000 Bear Stearns Co., Inc. -
6.50%, 8/1/2002 1,037,410
1,000,000 Merrill Lynch & Co. -
5.71%, 1/15/2002 986,408
500,000 Merrill Lynch & Co. -
6.02%, 5/11/2001 498,065
------------
2,521,883
------------
Finance - Investment Management (1.15%)
2,000,000 Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. -
8.10%, 6/24/2002 2,041,798
------------
Insurance - Diversified (0.72%)
1,275,000 Transamerica Financial Corp. -
6.125%, 11/1/2001 1,264,300
------------
Medical - Drugs/Diversified (1.11%)
2,000,000 Warner Lambert Co. -
5.75%, 1/15/2003 1,963,462
------------
Retail - Super/Mini-Markets (0.27%)
500,000 Albertson's, Inc. -
6.55%, 8/1/2004 483,951
------------
Total Corporate Debt - Non-Convertible
(Cost $22,135,764) 21,721,882
------------
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Shares/Par Value Value
---------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Preferred Stock - Convertible (0.27%)
Utility - Electric Power (0.27%)
10,200 TXU Corp., 9.25% $ 476,212
------------
Total Preferred Stock - Convertible
(Cost $510,000) 476,212
------------
U.S. Government Agency Obligations (18.74%)
$15,000,000 FHLMC Discount Note -
6.25%, 7/15/2004 14,869,515
5,000,000 FNMA Discount Note -
5.75%, 4/15/2003 4,915,355
5,000,000 FNMA Discount Note -
7.125%, 2/15/2005 5,111,920
8,000,000 FNMA Discount Note -
7.40%, 7/1/2004 8,232,704
------------
Total U.S. Government Agency Obligations
(Cost $32,432,689) 33,129,494
------------
U.S. Treasury Notes (3.33%)
$2,000,000 U.S. Treasury Note -
4.25%, 11/15/2003 1,904,376
4,000,000 U.S. Treasury Note -
5.75%, 8/15/2003 3,980,000
------------
Total U.S. Treasury Notes
(Cost $5,839,554) 5,884,376
------------
Repurchase Agreement (1.77%)
$3,134,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement,
6.32% dated September 29, 2000,
to be repurchased at $3,135,651 on
October 2, 2000, collateralized by
FNMA Agency Note, 6.40% -
September 27, 2001 with a value
of $3,199,926 $ 3,134,000
------------
Total Repurchase Agreement
(Cost $3,134,000) 3,134,000
------------
Total Investments (Cost $155,747,205) (99.40%) 175,741,262
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (0.60%) 1,056,471
------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $176,797,733
------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
FHLMC - Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
PLC - Public Limited Company.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 50
50
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Statements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statements of Assets and Liabilities
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger Berger
Information New Generation Berger
September 30, 2000 Technology Fund Fund Select Fund
------------------ --------------- --------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Assets
Investments, at cost $ 87,217,749 $ 732,099,672 $ 90,323,388
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Investments, at value $ 133,480,019 $ 867,896,047 $ 120,714,477
Cash 632,234 1,471,559 88,186
Receivables
Investment securities sold -- 10,954,703 --
Fund shares sold 309,613 9,739,283 2,018,607
Dividends 3,212 53,894 64,250
Interest 2,183 50,219 1,930
Due from Advisor -- -- --
Investment held as collateral for securities loaned 12,941,691 211,786,170 21,840,676
Deferred organization costs 5,612 -- --
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Total Assets 147,374,564 1,101,951,875 144,728,126
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Liabilities
Payables
Investment securities purchased 498,950 21,816,690 260,815
Fund shares redeemed 46,517 6,389,465 161,920
Collateral on securities loaned 12,941,691 211,786,170 21,840,676
Accrued investment advisory fees 91,923 575,499 72,423
Accrued custodian and accounting fees 2,940 13,773 2,228
Accrued transfer agent fees 21,064 67,623 20,068
Accrued 12b-1 fees 14,942 172,133 24,141
Accrued audit fees 9,985 13,685 12,285
Accrued shareholder reporting fees 2,691 64,251 2,151
Other accrued expenses 4,992 1,651 174
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Total Liabilities 13,635,695 240,900,940 22,396,881
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Assets Applicable to Shares Outstanding $ 133,738,869 $ 861,050,935 $ 122,331,245
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Components of Net Assets
Capital (par value and paid in surplus) $ 89,070,139 $ 560,619,696 $ 63,286,014
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) (1,192) (27,673) (5,507)
Undistributed net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency
transactions (1,592,348) 164,662,537 28,659,649
Net unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 46,262,270 135,796,375 30,391,089
--------------- --------------- ---------------
$ 133,738,869 $ 861,050,935 $ 122,331,245
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Outstanding 7,586,159(1) 22,666,462 4,844,826
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Authorized (par value $0.01) Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share N/A N/A $ 25.25
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Assets:
Investor Shares $ 72,173,334 $ 853,153,818 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares $ 61,565,535 $ 7,897,117 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Outstanding:
Investor Shares 4,102,042(1) 22,456,846 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares 3,484,117(1) 209,616 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share:
Investor Shares $ 17.59(1) $ 37.99 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares $ 17.67(1) $ 37.67 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
(1) Amounts adjusted to reflect a 7-for-1 share split, effective October 17,
2000 (See Note 7).
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 51
Financial Statements 51
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger Berger Berger
Small Company Small Cap Mid Cap
September 30, 2000 Growth Fund Value Fund Growth Fund
------------------ --------------- --------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Assets
Investments, at cost $ 1,064,178,598 $ 1,617,623,425 $ 101,865,910
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Investments, at value $ 1,456,551,310 $ 1,732,653,688 $ 122,611,346
Cash 562,885 390,047 48,743
Receivables
Investment securities sold 50,682,427 6,527,445 1,796,051
Fund shares sold 25,283,882 7,505,539 425,319
Dividends 7,399 1,186,187 978
Interest 20,237 27,407 1,970
Due from Advisor -- 42,609 --
Investment held as collateral for securities loaned 276,332,924 -- 31,322,911
Deferred organization costs -- -- --
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Total Assets 1,809,441,064 1,748,332,922 156,207,318
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Liabilities
Payables
Investment securities purchased 43,166,549 22,425,070 2,125,236
Fund shares redeemed 13,741,833 3,183,874 69,713
Collateral on securities loaned 276,332,924 -- 31,322,911
Accrued investment advisory fees 952,854 1,105,846 74,125
Accrued custodian and accounting fees 22,615 26,095 1,970
Accrued transfer agent fees 200,420 42,259 12,635
Accrued 12b-1 fees 296,548 177,538 24,709
Accrued audit fees 16,285 16,285 10,985
Accrued shareholder reporting fees 281,873 5,311 561
Other accrued expenses 2,339 2,313 177
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Total Liabilities 335,014,240 26,984,591 33,643,022
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Assets Applicable to Shares Outstanding $ 1,474,426,824 $ 1,721,348,331 $ 122,564,296
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Components of Net Assets
Capital (par value and paid in surplus) $ 781,729,532 $ 1,454,941,352 $ 84,525,990
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) (124,093) 18,669,230 (1,744)
Undistributed net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency
transactions 300,448,673 132,707,486 17,294,614
Net unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 392,372,712 115,030,263 20,745,436
--------------- --------------- ---------------
$ 1,474,426,824 $ 1,721,348,331 $ 122,564,296
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Outstanding 198,394,425 69,346,467 2,970,142
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Authorized (par value $0.01) Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share N/A N/A $ 41.27
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Assets:
Investor Shares $ 1,468,540,704 $ 859,030,375 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares $ 5,886,120 $ 862,317,956 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Outstanding:
Investor Shares 197,602,732 34,671,489 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares 791,693 34,674,978 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share:
Investor Shares $ 7.43 $ 24.78 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares $ 7.43 $ 24.87 N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger Berger
Mid Cap Berger Growth and
September 30, 2000 Value Fund Growth Fund Income Fund
------------------ --------------- --------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Assets
Investments, at cost $ 29,592,443 $ 1,322,725,934 $ 521,710,002
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Investments, at value $ 33,180,441 $ 1,954,162,643 $ 727,898,496
Cash 98,010 95,501 4,902,520
Receivables
Investment securities sold 1,226,563 -- --
Fund shares sold 70,690 605,262 1,332,036
Dividends 44,420 106,495 384,322
Interest 521 9,407 743,482
Due from Advisor -- -- --
Investment held as collateral for securities loaned 9,270,659 -- --
Deferred organization costs -- -- --
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Total Assets 43,891,304 1,954,979,308 735,260,856
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Liabilities
Payables
Investment securities purchased 1,530,180 4,530,701 9,091,027
Fund shares redeemed 29,259 733,906 150,776
Collateral on securities loaned 9,270,659 -- --
Accrued investment advisory fees 20,271 1,086,894 428,956
Accrued custodian and accounting fees 939 28,754 10,890
Accrued transfer agent fees 9,157 333,141 125,714
Accrued 12b-1 fees 6,758 395,117 146,105
Accrued audit fees 10,685 22,318 15,685
Accrued shareholder reporting fees 577 73,168 18,193
Other accrued expenses 44 2,826 1,013
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Total Liabilities 10,878,529 7,206,825 9,988,359
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Assets Applicable to Shares Outstanding $ 33,012,775 $ 1,947,772,483 $ 725,272,497
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Components of Net Assets
Capital (par value and paid in surplus) $ 24,515,021 $ 1,052,076,878 $ 441,663,632
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) 175,087 (347,362) (64,921)
Undistributed net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency
transactions 4,734,669 264,606,258 77,485,292
Net unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 3,587,998 631,436,709 206,188,494
--------------- --------------- ---------------
$ 33,012,775 $ 1,947,772,483 $ 725,272,497
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Outstanding 2,287,592 93,328,114 33,881,737
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Authorized (par value $0.01) Unlimited 200,000,000 100,000,000
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share $ 14.43 $ 20.87 $ 21.41
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Assets:
Investor Shares N/A N/A N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares N/A N/A N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares Outstanding:
Investor Shares N/A N/A N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares N/A N/A N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share:
Investor Shares N/A N/A N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares N/A N/A N/A
--------------- --------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Balanced
September 30, 2000 Fund
------------------ ---------------
<S> <C>
Assets
Investments, at cost $ 155,747,205
---------------
Investments, at value $ 175,741,262
Cash 883
Receivables
Investment securities sold 2,189,874
Fund shares sold 434,260
Dividends 66,687
Interest 913,342
Due from Advisor --
Investment held as collateral for securities loaned 1,046,640
Deferred organization costs --
---------------
Total Assets 180,392,948
---------------
Liabilities
Payables
Investment securities purchased 2,205,156
Fund shares redeemed 172,774
Collateral on securities loaned 1,046,640
Accrued investment advisory fees 101,646
Accrued custodian and accounting fees 3,086
Accrued transfer agent fees 14,904
Accrued 12b-1 fees 36,301
Accrued audit fees 12,285
Accrued shareholder reporting fees 2,169
Other accrued expenses 254
---------------
Total Liabilities 3,595,215
---------------
Net Assets Applicable to Shares Outstanding $ 176,797,733
---------------
Components of Net Assets
Capital (par value and paid in surplus) $ 137,504,359
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) 160,081
Undistributed net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency
transactions 19,139,236
Net unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 19,994,057
---------------
$ 176,797,733
---------------
Shares Outstanding 9,124,276
---------------
Shares Authorized (par value $0.01) Unlimited
---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share $ 19.38
---------------
Net Assets:
Investor Shares N/A
---------------
Institutional Shares N/A
---------------
Shares Outstanding:
Investor Shares N/A
---------------
Institutional Shares N/A
---------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share:
Investor Shares N/A
---------------
Institutional Shares N/A
---------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 52
52
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Statements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statements of Operations
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger Berger
Information New Generation Berger
For the Year Ended September 30, 2000 Technology Fund Fund Select Fund
------------------------------------- --------------- -------------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Investment Income
Income
Dividends $ 44,719 $ 202,879 $ 107,905
Interest 158,887 303,366 319,866
Securities lending income 63,988 771,214 116,672
------------- ------------- -------------
Total Income 267,594 1,277,459 544,443
------------- ------------- -------------
Expenses
Investment advisory fees 848,717 6,068,735 998,698
Accounting fees 26,170 96,611 19,209
Custodian fees 14,887 61,276 10,103
Transfer agent fees 151,528 720,920 145,136
Registration fees 66,428 102,550 41,044
12b-1 fees (Investor Shares or single-class funds only) 114,997 1,809,687 332,899
Audit fees 16,725 20,725 18,725
Legal fees 2,076 16,735 3,364
Directors'/Trustees' fees and expenses 5,344 38,629 7,401
Shareholder reporting fees 56,587 300,279 57,459
Amortization of deferred organization costs 3,711 -- --
Interest expense 366 198,388 5,884
Other expenses 1,831 14,937 3,258
------------- ------------- -------------
Gross Expenses 1,309,367 9,449,472 1,643,180
Less fees waived by Advisor -- (14,052) --
Less fees paid indirectly -- (1,575) (12,097)
Less earnings credits (7,787) (58,915) (11,403)
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Expenses 1,301,580 9,374,930 1,619,680
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Investment Income (Loss) (1,033,986) (8,097,471) (1,075,237)
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions (1,565,150) 177,147,820 29,900,230
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 38,489,519 63,212,050 22,159,622
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions 36,924,369 240,359,870 52,059,852
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations $ 35,890,383 $ 232,262,399 $ 50,984,615
------------- ------------- -------------
Foreign taxes withheld $ 1,828 -- $ 529
------------- ------------- -------------
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 53
Financial Statements 53
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger Berger Berger
Small Company Small Cap Mid Cap
For the Year Ended September 30, 2000 Growth Fund Value Fund Growth Fund
------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Investment Income
Income
Dividends $ 137,482 $ 27,840,458 $ 30,069
Interest 4,698,516 7,000,007 291,497
Securities lending income 655,051 -- 100,624
------------- ------------- -------------
Total Income 5,491,049 34,840,465 422,190
------------- ------------- -------------
Expenses
Investment advisory fees 10,139,725 9,858,372 726,893
Accounting fees 144,531 147,211 16,457
Custodian fees 105,532 118,218 15,252
Transfer agent fees 1,428,657 432,055 124,115
Registration fees 110,386 248,956 36,430
12b-1 fees (Investor Shares or single-class funds only) 3,123,553 1,544,027 242,298
Audit fees 24,725 24,725 16,725
Legal fees 29,094 34,306 1,998
Directors'/Trustees' fees and expenses 66,075 64,981 5,313
Shareholder reporting fees 690,588 235,562 43,496
Amortization of deferred organization costs -- -- --
Interest expense 42,268 25,663 16,669
Other expenses 25,497 22,036 1,030
------------- ------------- -------------
Gross Expenses 15,930,631 12,756,112 1,246,676
Less fees waived by Advisor (13,851) (224,272) --
Less fees paid indirectly -- -- --
Less earnings credits (104,514) (82,378) (11,538)
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Expenses 15,812,266 12,449,462 1,235,138
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Investment Income (Loss) (10,321,217) 22,391,003 (812,948)
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 325,582,758 131,799,172 18,335,737
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 245,661,268 95,023,362 17,019,658
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions 571,244,026 226,822,534 35,355,395
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations $ 560,922,809 $ 249,213,537 $ 34,542,447
------------- ------------- -------------
Foreign taxes withheld -- -- --
------------- ------------- -------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger Berger
Mid Cap Berger Growth and
For the Year Ended September 30, 2000 Value Fund Growth Fund Income Fund
------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Investment Income
Income
Dividends $ 508,045 $ 3,258,462 $ 2,985,313
Interest 67,046 1,269,005 2,951,976
Securities lending income 9,852 -- --
------------- ------------- -------------
Total Income 584,943 4,527,467 5,937,289
------------- ------------- -------------
Expenses
Investment advisory fees 191,402 12,518,985 4,361,730
Accounting fees 15,542 183,096 65,512
Custodian fees 18,565 128,123 49,533
Transfer agent fees 55,510 2,016,091 628,806
Registration fees 26,033 45,617 58,532
12b-1 fees (Investor Shares or single-class funds only) 63,801 4,526,533 1,468,475
Audit fees 16,225 33,725 23,725
Legal fees 676 45,994 15,130
Directors'/Trustees' fees and expenses 1,396 101,100 32,304
Shareholder reporting fees 16,003 767,118 226,201
Amortization of deferred organization costs -- -- --
Interest expense 712 54,544 22,208
Other expenses 842 52,710 14,489
------------- ------------- -------------
Gross Expenses 406,707 20,473,636 6,966,645
Less fees waived by Advisor -- -- --
Less fees paid indirectly -- (26,357) (7,151)
Less earnings credits (6,085) (109,575) (52,008)
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Expenses 400,622 20,337,704 6,907,486
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Investment Income (Loss) 184,321 (15,810,237) (970,197)
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 4,847,820 285,513,582 80,409,828
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies 20,100 -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 1,477,900 511,850,542 135,808,985
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions 6,345,820 797,364,124 216,218,813
------------- ------------- -------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations $ 6,530,141 $ 781,553,887 $ 215,248,616
------------- ------------- -------------
Foreign taxes withheld $ 797 $ 123,439 $ 101,520
------------- ------------- -------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Balanced
For the Year Ended September 30, 2000 Fund
------------------------------------- -------------
<S> <C>
Investment Income
Income
Dividends $ 598,237
Interest 3,649,733
Securities lending income 48,931
-------------
Total Income 4,296,901
-------------
Expenses
Investment advisory fees 1,151,278
Accounting fees 22,848
Custodian fees 13,555
Transfer agent fees 139,136
Registration fees 42,062
12b-1 fees (Investor Shares or single-class funds only) 411,171
Audit fees 18,725
Legal fees 4,163
Directors'/Trustees' fees and expenses 9,242
Shareholder reporting fees 56,007
Amortization of deferred organization costs --
Interest expense 3,984
Other expenses 3,397
-------------
Gross Expenses 1,875,568
Less fees waived by Advisor --
Less fees paid indirectly (6,318)
Less earnings credits (12,512)
-------------
Net Expenses 1,856,738
-------------
Net Investment Income (Loss) 2,440,163
-------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 20,090,218
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 13,290,443
-------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions 33,380,661
-------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations $ 35,820,824
-------------
Foreign taxes withheld $ 6,435
-------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 54
54
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Statements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Information
Technology Fund
---------------------------------------------------
Year Ended Period from Year Ended
September 30, March 1, 1999 to February 28,
2000 September 30, 1999 1999
--------------- ------------------ ---------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ (1,033,986) $ (131,128) $ (85,891)
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions (1,565,150) 388,198 123,091
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- -- --
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 38,489,519 4,446,738 2,901,441
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 35,890,383 4,703,808 2,938,641
--------------- --------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- -- --
Institutional Shares -- -- --
Distributions in excess of net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- -- --
Institutional Shares -- (240,971) --
Distributions in excess of net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only (72,678) -- --
Institutional Shares (153,075) -- --
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to
Shareholders (225,753) (240,971) --
--------------- --------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions (Note 5)
Proceeds from shares sold 119,071,235 9,473,739 8,406,475
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 225,245 240,876 --
Payments for shares redeemed (46,127,009) (1,718,686) (1,572,857)
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share
Transactions 73,169,471 7,995,929 6,833,618
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 108,834,101 12,458,766 9,772,259
Net Assets
Beginning of period 24,904,768 12,446,002 2,673,743
--------------- --------------- ---------------
End of period $ 133,738,869 $ 24,904,768 $ 12,446,002
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ (1,192) -- --
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares(1) (Note 5)
Shares sold 7,431,977 1,276,247 1,633,989
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 14,252 31,528 --
Shares redeemed (2,893,562) (238,112) (290,955)
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 4,552,667 1,069,663 1,343,034
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 3,033,492 1,963,829 620,795
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 7,586,159 3,033,492 1,963,829
--------------- --------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
(1) Share data for Berger Information Technology Fund have been adjusted to
reflect a 7-for-1 share split, effective October 17, 2000 (See Note 7).
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 55
Financial Statements 55
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
New Generation
Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ (8,097,471) $ (2,457,353)
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 177,147,820 70,131,198
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- --
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 63,212,050 62,553,374
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 232,262,399 130,227,219
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Institutional Shares -- --
Distributions in excess of net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only (71,664,764) (4,495,277)
Institutional Shares (146,231) --
Distributions in excess of net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Institutional Shares -- --
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to
Shareholders (71,810,995) (4,495,277)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions (Note 5)
Proceeds from shares sold 946,576,329 266,445,474
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 67,721,581 4,318,823
Payments for shares redeemed (644,983,039) (178,904,170)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share
Transactions 369,314,871 91,860,127
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 529,766,275 217,592,069
Net Assets
Beginning of period 331,284,660 113,692,591
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 861,050,935 $ 331,284,660
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ (27,673) $ (17,460)
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares(1) (Note 5)
Shares sold 25,633,117 12,508,663
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 1,991,235 305,888
Shares redeemed (17,811,606) (8,938,999)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 9,812,746 3,875,552
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 12,853,716 8,978,164
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 22,666,462 12,853,716
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Select Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ (1,075,237) $ 267,758
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 29,900,230 26,109,272
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- 613,845
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 22,159,622 8,283,724
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 50,984,615 35,274,599
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- (267,759)
Institutional Shares -- --
Distributions in excess of net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only (120,494) (102,138)
Distributions from net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only (24,429,656) (4,692,942)
Institutional Shares -- --
Distributions in excess of net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Institutional Shares -- --
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to
Shareholders (24,550,150) (5,062,839)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions (Note 5)
Proceeds from shares sold 69,127,672 135,890,110
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 23,772,870 4,474,373
Payments for shares redeemed (98,355,421) (110,795,590)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share
Transactions (5,454,879) 29,568,893
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 20,979,586 59,780,653
Net Assets
Beginning of period 101,351,659 41,571,006
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 122,331,245 $ 101,351,659
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ (5,507) $ 113,316
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares(1) (Note 5)
Shares sold 2,789,149 8,477,635
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 969,530 290,230
Shares redeemed (4,200,334) (6,617,655)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares (441,655) 2,150,210
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 5,286,481 3,136,271
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 4,844,826 5,286,481
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Small Company
Growth Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ (10,321,217) $ (7,513,231)
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 325,582,758 189,375,085
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- --
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 245,661,268 119,733,366
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 560,922,809 301,595,220
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Institutional Shares -- --
Distributions in excess of net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only (193,050,831) (105,864,218)
Institutional Shares (107,996) --
Distributions in excess of net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Institutional Shares -- --
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to
Shareholders (193,158,827) (105,864,218)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions (Note 5)
Proceeds from shares sold 1,359,540,857 237,959,062
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 189,000,774 102,148,841
Payments for shares redeemed (1,117,515,779) (421,943,412)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share
Transactions 431,025,852 (81,835,509)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 798,789,834 113,895,493
Net Assets
Beginning of period 675,636,990 561,741,497
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 1,474,426,824 $ 675,636,990
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ (124,093) $ (84,091)
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares(1) (Note 5)
Shares sold 188,217,874 59,395,752
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 30,337,350 30,583,466
Shares redeemed (159,164,729) (106,782,836)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 59,390,495 (16,803,618)
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 139,003,930 155,807,548
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 198,394,425 139,003,930
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Small Cap
Value Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ 22,391,003 $ 6,803,460
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 131,799,172 11,471,038
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- --
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies 557,430
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 95,023,362 42,568,780
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 249,213,537 61,400,708
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only (4,123,328) (554,980)
Institutional Shares (5,601,904) (1,033,592)
Distributions in excess of net investment income:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only (4,761,704) (6,307,111)
Institutional Shares (5,368,562) (4,874,484)
Distributions in excess of net realized gains on securities
and foreign currency transactions:
Investor Shares and single-class Funds only -- --
Institutional Shares -- --
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to
Shareholders (19,855,498) (12,770,167)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions (Note 5)
Proceeds from shares sold 1,093,487,869 740,240,947
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 15,420,635 9,947,049
Payments for shares redeemed (405,327,916) (211,660,639)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share
Transactions 703,580,588 538,527,357
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 932,938,627 587,157,898
Net Assets
Beginning of period 788,409,704 201,251,806
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 1,721,348,331 $ 788,409,704
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ 18,669,230 $ 6,759,547
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares(1) (Note 5)
Shares sold 49,373,113 36,191,725
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and
distributions 735,730 532,011
Shares redeemed (18,359,280) (10,560,918)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 31,749,563 26,162,818
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 37,596,904 11,434,086
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 69,346,467 37,596,904
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 56
56
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Statements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Mid Cap
Growth Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ (812,948) $ (121,812)
Net realized gain on securities and foreign currency transactions 18,335,737 2,534,503
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- --
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 17,019,658 4,040,333
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 34,542,447 6,453,024
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income -- --
Distributions in excess of net investment income -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities and foreign currency transactions (2,604,437) (87,008)
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders (2,604,437) (87,008)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions
Proceeds from shares sold 134,338,287 23,393,763
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 2,525,230 84,722
Payments for shares redeemed (71,787,343) (8,577,110)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share Transactions 65,076,174 14,901,375
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 97,014,184 21,267,391
Net Assets
Beginning of period 25,550,112 4,282,721
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 122,564,296 $ 25,550,112
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ (1,744) $ (405)
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares
Shares sold 3,669,336 1,247,919
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 70,380 6,375
Shares redeemed (1,940,540) (475,129)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 1,799,176 779,165
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 1,170,966 391,801
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 2,970,142 1,170,966
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 57
Financial Statements 57
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Mid Cap
Value Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ 184,321 $ 126,159
Net realized gain on securities and foreign currency transactions 4,847,820 2,470,373
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- 116,325
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies 20,100 62,909
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 1,477,900 3,004,508
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 6,530,141 5,780,274
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income (78,818) (116,337)
Distributions in excess of net investment income -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities and foreign currency transactions (2,231,863) --
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders (2,310,681) (116,337)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions
Proceeds from shares sold 16,224,571 9,641,513
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 2,272,484 114,595
Payments for shares redeemed (12,621,747) (12,212,494)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share Transactions 5,875,308 (2,456,386)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 10,094,768 3,207,551
Net Assets
Beginning of period 22,918,007 19,710,456
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 33,012,775 $ 22,918,007
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ 175,087 $ 69,584
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares
Shares sold 1,178,675 792,667
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 187,190 10,513
Shares redeemed (961,433) (1,032,615)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 404,432 (229,435)
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 1,883,160 2,112,595
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 2,287,592 1,883,160
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Growth Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ (15,810,237) $ (5,553,325)
Net realized gain on securities and foreign currency transactions 285,513,578 296,796,365
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- 4,015,058
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 511,850,546 181,661,229
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 781,553,887 476,919,327
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income -- --
Distributions in excess of net investment income -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities and foreign currency transactions (294,401,149) (100,312,667)
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders (294,401,149) (100,312,667)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions
Proceeds from shares sold 98,534,404 125,981,311
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 287,586,198 97,500,281
Payments for shares redeemed (259,294,552) (553,122,803)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share Transactions 126,826,050 (329,641,211)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 613,978,788 46,965,449
Net Assets
Beginning of period 1,333,793,695 1,286,828,246
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 1,947,772,483 $ 1,333,793,695
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ (347,362) $ (241,972)
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares
Shares sold 5,006,842 8,690,069
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 16,039,370 7,075,507
Shares redeemed (13,463,692) (37,344,829)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 7,582,520 (21,579,253)
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 85,745,594 107,324,847
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 93,328,114 85,745,594
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Growth and
Income Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ (970,197) $ (797,736)
Net realized gain on securities and foreign currency transactions 80,409,828 65,478,686
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- --
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 135,808,985 46,438,095
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 215,248,616 111,119,045
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income -- --
Distributions in excess of net investment income -- (257,511)
Distributions from net realized gains on securities and foreign currency transactions (56,432,967) (61,153,780)
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders (56,432,967) (61,411,291)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions
Proceeds from shares sold 278,763,933 72,124,316
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 54,706,474 58,191,986
Payments for shares redeemed (146,369,933) (101,997,289)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share Transactions 187,100,474 28,319,013
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 345,916,123 78,026,767
Net Assets
Beginning of period 379,356,374 301,329,607
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 725,272,497 $ 379,356,374
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ (64,921) $ (64,432)
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares
Shares sold 13,568,085 4,849,258
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 2,939,628 4,775,021
Shares redeemed (7,387,883) (7,022,370)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 9,119,830 2,601,909
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 24,761,907 22,159,998
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 33,881,737 24,761,907
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger
Balanced
Fund
---------------------------------
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999
--------------- ---------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income (loss) $ 2,440,163 $ 1,437,031
Net realized gain on securities and foreign currency transactions 20,090,218 12,467,719
Net realized gain on futures contracts -- 75,053
Net realized gain on distributions from investment companies -- --
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 13,290,443 6,836,202
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 35,820,824 20,816,005
--------------- ---------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income (2,346,203) (1,397,262)
Distributions in excess of net investment income -- --
Distributions from net realized gains on securities and foreign currency transactions (13,392,214) (3,773,574)
--------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders (15,738,417) (5,170,836)
--------------- ---------------
From Fund Share Transactions
Proceeds from shares sold 111,347,036 170,043,914
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 14,489,177 4,755,161
Payments for shares redeemed (91,887,017) (98,398,671)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share Transactions 33,949,196 76,400,404
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 54,031,603 92,045,573
Net Assets
Beginning of period 122,766,130 30,720,557
--------------- ---------------
End of period $ 176,797,733 $ 122,766,130
--------------- ---------------
Undistributed net investment income/(Accumulated net investment loss) $ 160,081 $ 66,148
--------------- ---------------
Transactions in Fund Shares
Shares sold 5,768,094 10,911,427
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and distributions 791,317 333,300
Shares redeemed (4,823,413) (6,169,658)
--------------- ---------------
Net Increase (Decrease) in Shares 1,735,998 5,075,069
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 7,388,278 2,313,209
--------------- ---------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 9,124,276 7,388,278
--------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 58
58
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger
International Fund
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
<S> <C>
Assets
Investment in Berger International Portfolio ("Portfolio"), at value $ 35,941,281
Receivable from fund shares sold 11,764,500
------------------
Total Assets 47,705,781
------------------
Liabilities
Payable for fund shares redeemed 9,262,437
Accrued administrative services fee 11,064
Accrued 12b-1 fees 7,537
------------------
Total Liabilities 9,281,038
------------------
Net Assets Applicable to Shares Outstanding $ 38,424,743
------------------
Components of Net Assets
Capital (par value and paid in surplus) $ 29,548,481
Accumulated net investment loss (48,044)
Undistributed net realized gain on securities
and foreign currency transactions 2,234,477
Net unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions 6,689,829
------------------
$ 38,424,743
------------------
Shares Outstanding (Unlimited Shares Authorized, Par Value $0.01) 2,807,010
------------------
Net Asset Value, Offering and Redemption Price Per Share $ 13.69
------------------
</TABLE>
Statement of Operations
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Year Ended
September 30, 2000
------------------
<S> <C>
Net Investment Income Allocated from Portfolio
Dividends (net of foreign tax withholding of $65,034) $ 421,878
Interest 53,358
Securities lending income 14,829
Portfolio expenses (net of earnings credits totaling $7,040) (273,689)
------------------
Net Investment Income Allocated from Portfolio 216,376
------------------
Fund Expenses
Administrative services fee 95,451
Registration fees 48,633
12b-1 fees 72,719
------------------
Total Fund Expenses 216,803
------------------
Net Investment Loss (427)
------------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and
Foreign Currency Transactions Allocated from Portfolio
Net realized gain on securities and foreign currency transactions 2,421,652
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions 859,365
------------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency
Transactions Allocated from Portfolio 3,281,017
------------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations $ 3,280,590
------------------
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 59
Financial Statements 59
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30, 2000 1999
------------------------- -------------- --------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment loss $ (427) $ (1,020)
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions allocated from Portfolio 2,421,652 (480,189)
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency
transactions allocated from Portfolio 859,365 5,758,774
-------------- --------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 3,280,590 5,277,565
-------------- --------------
From Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders
Dividends from net investment income -- (768,790)
Distributions in excess of net realized gains on securities and foreign currency transactions -- (31,977)
-------------- ---------------
Net Decrease in Net Assets from Dividends and Distributions to Shareholders -- (800,767)
-------------- --------------
From Fund Share Transactions
Proceeds from shares sold 308,789,618 64,254,931
Net asset value of shares issued in reinvestment of dividends and distributions -- 784,624
Payments for shares redeemed (296,659,050) (63,014,956)
-------------- --------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Derived from Fund Share Transactions 12,130,568 2,024,599
-------------- --------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 15,411,158 6,501,397
Net Assets
Beginning of period 23,013,585 16,512,188
-------------- --------------
End of period $ 38,424,743 $ 23,013,585
-------------- --------------
Accumulated net investment loss $ (48,044) $ (91,381)
-------------- --------------
Transactions in Fund Shares
Shares sold 21,602,443 5,362,766
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment of dividends and distributions -- 68,500
Shares redeemed (20,635,259) (5,233,010)
-------------- --------------
Net Increase in Shares 967,184 198,256
Shares outstanding, beginning of period 1,839,826 1,641,570
-------------- --------------
Shares outstanding, end of period 2,807,010 1,839,826
-------------- --------------
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 60
60
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Notes to Financial
Statements
September 30, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Organization and Significant Accounting Policies
Organization
Berger Information Technology Fund ("TECH"), Berger New Generation Fund ("BNG"),
Berger Select Fund ("BSEL"), Berger Small Company Growth Fund ("BSCG"), Berger
Small Cap Value Fund ("BSCV"), Berger Mid Cap Growth Fund ("BMCG"), Berger Mid
Cap Value Fund ("BMCV"), Berger Growth Fund ("Growth") (formerly Berger 100
Fund), Berger Growth and Income Fund ("BG&I"), Berger Balanced Fund ("BBAL"),
and Berger International Fund ("BBIF") (formerly Berger/BIAM International Fund)
(individually the "Fund" and collectively, the "Funds") are open-end management
investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as
amended (the "1940 Act").
Growth and BG&I are corporations registered in the State of Maryland. TECH, BNG,
BSEL, BSCG, BMCG, BMCV and BBAL are separate series established under the Berger
Investment Portfolio Trust ("BIP Trust"), a Delaware business trust. BSCV is the
only series established under the Berger Omni Investment Trust ("OMNI Trust"), a
Massachusetts business trust. Prior to July 2, 1999, TECH was known as the
InformationTech 100 Fund ("InfoTech"). On July 2, 1999, all of the outstanding
shares of InfoTech were designated Institutional Shares ("TECH; Inst") and a
separate class of shares, Investor Shares ("TECH; Inv"), was offered. BNG, BSCG
and BSCV each also offer two separate classes of shares; Investor Shares ("BNG;
Inv", "BSCG; Inv", and "BSCV; Inv", respectively) and Institutional Shares
("BNG; Inst", "BSCG; Inst", and "BSCV; Inst", respectively). Both classes of
each Fund have identical rights to earnings, assets and voting privileges. BNG;
Inst and BSCG; Inst commenced operations on August 16, 1999 and October 16,
1999, respectively.
BBIF is one of three series established under the Berger Worldwide Funds Trust
("BBWF Trust") (formerly the Berger/BIAM Worldwide Funds Trust), a Delaware
business trust.
BBIF invests all of its investable assets in the Berger International Portfolio
(the "Portfolio"), a series of Berger Worldwide Portfolios Trust ("BBWP Trust").
The value of such investment reflects BBIF's proportionate interest in the net
assets of the Portfolio (12% at September 30, 2000). The Portfolio is an
open-end management investment company and has the same investment objective and
policies as BBIF. The performance of BBIF will be derived from the investment
performance of the Portfolio. The financial statements of the Portfolio,
including the schedule of investments, are included elsewhere in this report and
should be read in conjunction with BBIF's financial statements.
On January 19, 2000, Berger LLC ("Berger") and Bank of Ireland Asset Management
(U.S.) Limited ("BIAM") entered into an agreement to dissolve BBOI Worldwide LLC
("BBOI"), the former advisor to the Portfolio. This agreement was approved by
shareholders on May 5, 2000. Upon approval of the new management agreement,
Berger became the Fund's advisor and BIAM continues to be responsible for the
day-to-day management of the Fund's portfolio as sub-advisor. The dissolution of
BBOI had no effect on the investment advisory services to or on the fees borne
by BBIF for advisory services. Additionally, BBIF was renamed Berger
International Fund and the Berger/BIAM Worldwide Funds Trust was renamed Berger
Worldwide Funds Trust.
Significant Accounting Policies
The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently
followed by the Funds in the preparation of their financial statements. The
policies are in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
Investment Valuation
Securities are valued at the close of the regular trading session of the New
York Stock Exchange (the "Exchange") on each day that the Exchange is open.
Securities listed on national exchanges, the Nasdaq Stock Market and foreign
exchanges are valued at the last sale price on such markets, or, if no last sale
price is available, they are valued using the mean between their current bid and
ask prices. Prices of foreign securities are converted to U.S. dollars using
exchange rates determined prior to the close of the Exchange. Securities traded
in the over-the-counter market are valued at the mean between their current bid
and ask prices. Short-term obligations maturing within sixty days are valued at
amortized cost, which approximates market value. Securities for which quotations
are not readily available are valued at fair values as determined in good faith
pursuant to consistently applied procedures established by the
directors/trustees of the Funds.
Generally, trading in foreign securities markets is substantially completed each
day at various times prior to the close of the Exchange. The values of foreign
securities used in computing the Funds' net asset values are determined as of
the earlier of such market close or the closing time of
<PAGE> 61
Notes to Financial Statements 61
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Reports
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the Exchange. Occasionally, events affecting the value of such securities may
occur between the times at which they are determined and the close of the
Exchange, or when the foreign market on which such securities trade is closed
but the Exchange is open, which will not be reflected in the computation of net
asset value. If during such periods, events occur that materially affect the
value of such securities, the securities will be valued at their fair market
value as determined in good faith pursuant to consistently applied procedures
established by the directors/trustees of the Funds.
Since BBIF invests all of its investable assets in the Portfolio, the value of
BBIF's investable assets will be equal to the value of its beneficial interest
in the Portfolio. Valuation of securities by the Portfolio is discussed in Note
1 of the Portfolio's Notes to Financial Statements, which are included elsewhere
in this report.
Calculation Of Net Asset Value
Each Fund's per share calculation of net asset value for each share class is
determined by dividing the net assets applicable to each share class by the
total number of shares outstanding for that class.
Federal Income Tax Status
It is the Funds' policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue
Code applicable to regulated investment companies and to distribute all of their
taxable income to shareholders. Therefore, no income tax provision is required.
Foreign Currency Translation
Assets and liabilities initially expressed in terms of foreign currencies are
translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates as quoted by one or
more banks or dealers on the date of valuation. The cost of securities is
translated into U.S. dollars at the rates of exchange prevailing when such
securities were acquired. Income and expenses are translated into U.S. dollars
at rates of exchange prevailing when accrued.
Investment Transactions And Investment Income
Investment transactions are accounted for on the date investments are purchased
or sold. Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date except that certain
dividends from foreign securities are recorded as soon as a Fund is informed of
the ex-dividend date if such information is obtained subsequent to the
ex-dividend date. Dividend income is recorded net of foreign taxes withheld.
Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis and includes accretion of
discount. Gains and losses are computed on the identified cost basis for both
financial statement and federal income tax purposes for all securities.
Allocation Of Income, Expenses And Gains And Losses
Income, expenses (other than those attributable to a specific share class) and
gains and losses of TECH, BNG, BSCG and BSCV are allocated daily to each class
of shares based upon the ratio of net assets represented by each class as a
percentage of total net assets of each of the aforementioned Funds. Expenses
directly attributable to a specific class of shares are charged against the
operations of such class.
As an investor in the Portfolio, BBIF is allocated its pro rata share of the
aggregate investment income, realized and unrealized gains or losses and annual
operating expenses of the Portfolio. Income, realized and unrealized gains or
losses and expenses are allocated on the day incurred in proportion to the prior
day's net assets of BBIF relative to the other investors in the Portfolio.
Expenses directly attributable to BBIF are charged against the operations of the
Fund.
Common Expenses
Certain expenses, which are not directly allocable to a specific Fund, are
allocated to each of the Funds on the basis of relative net assets.
Organization Costs
Expenses incurred in connection with the organization of TECH are being
amortized over sixty months from April 8, 1997, the commencement of investment
operations of TECH.
Use Of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that
affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of
contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and
the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations
during the reporting period. Actual results may differ from those estimates.
<PAGE> 62
62
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Notes to Financial
Statements
September 30, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Agreements
Berger serves as investment advisor to TECH, BNG, BSEL, BSCG, BSCV, BMCG, BMCV,
Growth, BG&I and BBAL pursuant to agreements that provide for an investment
advisory fee to be paid to Berger according to the following schedule:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Average Daily
Fund Net Assets Annual Rate
---- ------------------ -----------
<S> <C> <C>
BSEL, BMCG, BMCV, First $500 million .75%
Growth, BG&I Next $500 million .70%
Over $1 billion .65%
TECH, BNG, First $500 million .85%
BSCG, BSCV Next $500 million .80%
Over $1 billion .75%
BBAL First $1 billion .70%
Over $1 billion .65%
</TABLE>
All investment advisory fees are accrued daily and paid monthly. Berger has
delegated the day-to-day investment management of BSCV and BMCV to Perkins,
Wolf, McDonnell & Company ("PWM"). Additionally, Berger has delegated the
day-to-day investment management of TECH to Bay Isle Financial Corporation
("BIFC"). Berger pays PWM and BIFC sub-advisory fees from the investment
advisory fee it receives from BSCV, BMCV and TECH.
Berger has agreed to reimburse BNG; Inst and BSCG; Inst to the extent that each
class' transfer agency and registration fees, in aggregate, exceed .20% of the
class' average daily net assets in any fiscal year.
The Funds (excluding BBIF) have entered into administrative services agreements
with Berger. Berger currently provides administrative services to the Funds at
no cost.
Pursuant to an Administrative Services Agreement, whereby Berger serves as the
administrator to BBIF, BBIF pays Berger a fee at an annual rate equal to the
lesser of 0.45% of its average daily net assets or Berger's annual cost to
provide or procure such services plus 0.02% of BBIF's average daily net assets.
Under the Agreement, Berger is responsible at its own expense, for providing or
procuring administrative services reasonably necessary for the operation of
BBIF, excluding legal and registration fees.
The Funds have adopted plans pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act (the
"Plans"). The TECH, BNG, BSCG and BSCV Plans apply only to the Investor Shares
class of each Fund. The Plans provide for the payment to Berger of a 12b-1 fee
of .25% per annum of each Fund's average daily net assets (or the net assets of
a particular class of shares, where applicable) to finance activities primarily
intended to result in the sale of Fund shares. The Plans provide that such
payments will be made to Berger as compensation rather than as reimbursements
for actual expenses incurred to promote the sale of shares of the Funds.
The Funds (except BBIF) have also entered into recordkeeping and pricing
agreements with State Street Bank and Trust Company ("State Street"), which also
serves as the Funds' custodian. The recordkeeping and pricing agreements provide
for the monthly payment of a base fee plus a fee computed as a percentage of
average daily net assets on a total relationship basis with other Berger Funds.
State Street's fees for custody, recordkeeping and pricing are subject to
reduction by credits earned by each Fund, based on the cash balances of each
Fund held by State Street as custodian.
DST Systems, Inc. ("DST"), an affiliate of Berger through a degree of common
ownership, provides shareholder accounting services to the Funds. DST
Securities, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of DST, is designated as an
introductory broker on certain portfolio transactions. The Funds receive an
amount equal to the brokerage commissions paid to DST Securities, Inc. as
credits against transfer agent fees and expenses. Such credits are presented as
fees paid indirectly on the Statement of Operations. For the year ended
September 30, 2000, the following Funds earned such credits:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Fund Credits
---- -------
<S> <C>
BNG $ 1,575
BSEL 12,097
Growth 26,357
BG&I 7,151
BBAL 6,318
</TABLE>
Certain officers and/or directors of Berger are also officers and/or
directors/trustees of the Funds. Directors/Trustees who are not affiliated with
Berger are compensated for their services according to a fee schedule, allocated
among the entire Berger Funds complex, which includes an annual fee component
and a per meeting fee component. For the year ended September 30, 2000, such
directors'/trustees' fees and expenses totaled $331,788 for the Funds.
The Funds (except BBIF) adopted a director/trustee fee deferral plan (the
"Plan") which allows the non-affiliated directors/trustees to defer the receipt
of all or a portion of the directors'/trustees' fees payable. The deferred fees
are invested in various funds advised by Berger until distribution in accordance
with the Plan.
<PAGE> 63
Notes to Financial Statements 63
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Investment Transactions
Purchases and Sales
Purchases and sales proceeds of investment securities (excluding short-term
securities) during the year ended September 30, 2000, were as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Fund Purchases Sales
-------- -------------- --------------
<S> <C> <C>
TECH $ 102,173,206 $ 35,820,232
BNG 1,352,854,733 1,054,395,339
BSEL 152,862,531 201,220,464
BSCG 1,207,811,397 1,062,988,651
BSCV 1,484,288,028 792,618,981
BMCG 191,767,217 135,138,400
BMCV 35,518,853 31,409,241
Growth 1,245,935,050 1,452,366,970
BG&I 530,060,255 423,473,266
BBAL 153,675,014 125,157,197
BBIF(1) N/A N/A
</TABLE>
(1) See the Portfolio's Notes to Financial Statements for information regarding
purchases and sales proceeds of investment securities.
BBAL had purchases of $5,799,375 and sales of $14,158,432 of long-term U.S.
government securities during the year ended September 30, 2000. No other Funds
purchased or sold long-term U.S. government securities.
Unrealized Appreciation, Unrealized Depreciation And Federal Tax Cost Of
Securities
At September 30, 2000, the federal tax cost of securities and the composition of
net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investment securities were as
follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Gross Gross
Federal Unrealized Unrealized Net
Fund Tax Cost Appreciation Depreciation Appreciation
---- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
TECH $ 87,217,749 $ 55,183,357 $ (8,921,087) $ 46,262,270
BNG 732,099,672 227,906,354 (92,109,979) 135,796,375
BSEL 90,523,596 37,347,346 (7,156,465) 30,190,881
BSCG 1,089,210,590 454,445,598 (87,104,878) 367,340,720
BSCV 1,617,640,815 229,953,126 (114,940,253) 115,012,873
BMCG 102,428,289 30,184,159 (10,001,102) 20,183,057
BMCV 29,929,141 5,117,084 (1,865,784) 3,251,300
Growth 1,323,696,586 704,008,373 (73,542,316) 630,466,057
BG&I 523,352,845 229,618,580 (25,072,929) 204,545,651
BBAL 156,484,669 26,301,662 (7,045,069) 19,256,593
BBIF(1) N/A N/A N/A N/A
</TABLE>
(1) See the Portfolio's Notes to Financial Statements for federal tax cost of
investment securities and the composition of net unrealized appreciation or
unrealized depreciation of investment securities.
Futures and Forward Contracts
Each Fund may hold certain types of forward foreign currency exchange contracts
and/or futures contracts for the purpose of hedging each portfolio against
exposure to market value fluctuations. The use of such instruments may involve
certain risks as a result of unanticipated movements in the market, a lack of
correlation between the value of such instruments and the assets being hedged,
or unexpected adverse price movements. In addition, there can be no assurance
that a liquid secondary market will exist for the instrument. Upon entering a
futures contract, a Fund deposits and maintains as collateral such initial
margin as may be required by the exchanges on which the transaction is affected.
Pursuant to the contracts, a Fund agrees to receive from or pay to the broker an
amount of cash equal to the daily fluctuation in the value of the contract.
Realized and unrealized gains or losses on forward foreign currency contracts
are included in Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Securities and
Foreign Currency Transactions in the Statement of Operations. At September 30,
2000, the Funds had no outstanding futures or forward currency contracts.
Securities Lending
Under an agreement with State Street, TECH, BNG, BSEL, BSCG, BMCG, BMCV, BBAL
and the Portfolio have the ability to lend securities to brokers, dealers and
other authorized financial institutions. Loans of portfolio securities are
collateralized by cash remitted from the borrower of such securities in an
amount equal to at least 102% of the market value of the loaned securities at
the time the loan is made. The cash collateral received is invested in a money
market fund and is evaluated daily to ensure that its market value exceeds the
current market value of the loaned securities. Income generated by such
investment, net of any rebates paid to the borrower, is split among the Fund and
State Street, as lending agent.
At September 30, 2000, the Funds had securities on loan with the following
market values:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Fund Value
---- ------------
<S> <C>
TECH $ 12,497,216
BNG 204,318,027
BSEL 21,312,569
BSCG 267,832,084
BMCG 30,332,345
BMCV 8,864,817
BBAL 1,024,298
BBIF(1) N/A
</TABLE>
(1) See the Portfolio's Notes to Financial Statements for market value of
securities on loan.
<PAGE> 64
64
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Notes to Financial
Statements
September 30, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Repurchase Agreements
Repurchase agreements held by a Fund are fully collateralized by U.S. government
or government agency securities and such collateral is in the possession of the
Fund's custodian. The collateral is evaluated daily to ensure its market value
exceeds the current market value of the repurchase agreements including accrued
interest. In the event of default on the obligation to repurchase, the Fund has
the right to liquidate the collateral and apply the proceeds in satisfaction of
the obligation. In the event of default or bankruptcy by the other party to the
agreement, realization and/or retention of the collateral or proceeds may be
subject to legal proceedings.
Concentration of Risk
The Funds may have elements of risk due to concentrated investments in specific
industries or foreign issuers located in a specific country. Such concentrations
may subject the Fund to additional risk resulting from future political or
economic conditions and/or possible impositions of adverse foreign governmental
laws or currency exchange restrictions. Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss)
on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions in the Statement of Operations
includes fluctuations from currency exchange rates and fluctuations in market
value.
Federal Income Taxes
Dividends paid by the Funds from net investment income and distributions of net
realized short-term capital gains are, for federal income tax purposes, taxable
as ordinary income to shareholders. For the fiscal year ended September 30,
2000, 1%, 56%, 1%, 17%, 5%, and 2% of the ordinary income distributions declared
by BSEL, BSCV, BMCG, BMCV, BG&I and BBAL, respectively, qualified for the
dividends received deduction available to corporate shareholders.
For the fiscal year or period ended September 30, 2000, the following
percentages of capital gain distributions were considered long-term capital
gains:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Fund %
---- ---
<S> <C>
TECH 100
BNG 21
BSEL 1
BSCG 58
BSCV 65
BMCG 6
BMCV 2
Growth 25
BG&I 14
BBIF --
</TABLE>
The Funds distribute net realized capital gains, if any, to their shareholders
at least annually, if not offset by capital loss carryovers. Income
distributions and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with
income tax regulations, which may differ from generally accepted accounting
principles. These differences are primarily due to the differing treatment of
net operating losses, foreign currency and tax allocations. Accordingly, these
permanent differences in the character of income and distributions between
financial statements and tax basis have been reclassified to paid-in-capital.
During the year ended September 30, 2000, the following reclassifications were
made among the components of net assets:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Undistributed Undistributed
Paid-in Net Investment Net Realized
Fund Capital Income Gains
---- ------------ -------------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
TECH $ (1,102,043) $ 1,032,794 $ 69,249
BNG -- 8,087,258 (8,087,258)
BSEL -- 1,076,908 (1,076,908)
BSCG 247,413 10,281,215 (10,528,628)
BSCV (2,580) (756,088) 758,668
BMCG -- 811,609 (811,609)
BMCV -- -- --
Growth 64,475 15,704,847 (15,769,322)
BG&I (11,326) 969,708 (958,382)
BBAL 27 (27) --
BBIF (531,868) 43,764 488,104
</TABLE>
During the year ended September 30, 2000, BBIF paid $65,034 of foreign taxes on
$495,256 of foreign source income. The Fund will make the foreign tax credit
election to pass through these taxes to shareholders.
During the current year, BBIF utilized capital loss carryovers on the amount of
$593,333 to offset realized gains for federal tax purposes.
TECH incurred and elected to defer post-October 31 net capital and/or currency
losses of $1,592,349 to the year ended September 30, 2001.
4. Line of Credit
The Funds, excluding BBIF, are party to an ongoing agreement with certain banks
that allows the funds managed by Berger, collectively, to borrow up to $150
million, subject to certain conditions, for temporary or emergency purposes.
Interest, based on the Federal Funds Rate, is charged to the specific party that
executes the borrowing. In addition, the unsecured line of credit requires a
quarterly payment of a commitment fee based on the average daily unused portion
of the line of credit. No Funds had line of credit borrowings outstanding at
September 30, 2000.
<PAGE> 65
Notes to Financial Statements 65
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Capital Share Transactions
The following Funds are authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares of
each share class with a par value of $0.01 per share. Transactions in capital
shares for the periods presented were as follows:
Berger Information Technology Fund
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Year Ended Period from July 2, 1999(1)
September 30, 2000(2) to September 30, 1999(2)
--------------------------- ---------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Investor Shares
Shares sold 5,166,413 $ 86,580,176 600,747 $ 4,639,114
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 4,578 72,263 -- --
Shares redeemed (1,655,003) (26,504,399) (14,693) (115,896)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
3,515,988 $ 60,148,040 586,054 $ 4,523,218
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Year Ended Period from March 1, 1999 Year Ended
September 30, 2000(2) to September 30, 1999(2) February 28, 1999(2)
--------------------------- --------------------------- ---------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Institutional Shares
Shares sold 2,265,564 $ 32,491,059 675,500 $ 4,834,625 1,633,989 $ 8,406,475
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 9,674 152,982 31,528 240,876 -- --
Shares redeemed (1,238,559) (19,622,610) (223,419) (1,602,790) (290,955) (1,572,857)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
1,036,679 13,021,431 483,609 3,472,711 1,343,034 6,833,618
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total Increase from
Capital Share Transactions 4,552,667 $ 73,169,471 1,069,663 $ 7,995,929 1,343,034 $ 6,833,618
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
</TABLE>
Berger New Generation Fund
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Year Ended Year Ended
September 30, 2000 September 30, 1999
----------------------------- -----------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Investor Shares
Shares sold 25,431,722 $ 939,029,531 12,495,220 $ 266,105,602
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 1,986,901 67,575,369 305,888 4,318,823
Shares redeemed (17,802,050) (644,629,776) (8,938,999) (178,904,170)
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
9,616,573 $ 361,975,124 3,862,109 $ 91,520,255
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Year Ended Period from August 16, 1999(1)
September 30, 2000 to September 30, 1999
----------------------------- ------------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Institutional Shares
Shares sold 201,395 $ 7,546,798 13,443 $ 339,872
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 4,334 146,212 -- --
Shares redeemed (9,556) (353,263) -- --
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
196,173 7,339,747 13,443 339,872
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Total Increase from
Capital Share Transactions 9,812,746 $ 369,314,871 3,875,552 $ 91,860,127
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of operations for the share class.
(2) All per share data for Berger Information Technology Fund has been adjusted
to reflect a 7-for-1 share split, effective October 17, 2000 (See Note 7).
<PAGE> 66
66
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Notes to Financial
Statements
September 30, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Capital Share Transactions (continued)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Berger Small Company Growth Fund
Year Ended Year Ended
September 30, 2000 September 30, 1999
------------------------------- ---------------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Investor Shares
Shares sold 187,392,906 $ 1,353,692,255 59,395,752 $ 237,959,062
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 30,319,794 188,892,806 30,583,466 102,148,841
Shares redeemed (159,113,844) (1,117,175,763) (106,782,836) (421,943,412)
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
58,598,856 $ 425,409,298 (16,803,618) $ (81,835,509)
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
<CAPTION>
Period from October 16, 1999(1)
to September 30, 2000
-------------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Institutional Shares
Shares sold 824,968 $ 5,848,602
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 17,556 107,968
Shares redeemed (50,885) (340,016)
------------- ---------------
791,639 5,616,554
------------- -------------
Total Increase (Decrease) from
Capital Share Transactions 59,390,495 $ 431,025,852 (16,803,618) $ (81,835,509)
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
<CAPTION>
Berger Small Cap Value Fund
Year Ended Year Ended
September 30, 2000 September 30, 1999
------------------------------- ---------------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Investor Shares
Shares sold 26,730,624 $ 592,798,683 18,450,177 $ 379,815,718
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 374,603 7,844,197 305,000 5,696,711
Shares redeemed (10,297,490) (227,188,582) (7,062,053) (141,792,819)
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
16,807,737 373,454,298 11,693,124 243,719,610
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Institutional Shares
Shares sold 22,642,489 500,689,186 17,741,548 360,425,229
Shares issued to shareholders in reinvestment
of dividends and distributions 361,127 7,576,438 227,011 4,250,338
Shares redeemed (8,061,790) (178,139,334) (3,498,865) (69,867,820)
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
14,941,826 330,126,290 14,469,694 294,807,747
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
Total Increase from
Capital Share Transactions 31,749,563 $ 703,580,588 26,162,818 $ 538,527,357
------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of operations for the share class.
6. Other Matters
Effective March 31, 2000, the trustees of the OMNI Trust approved closing both
share classes of BSCV to new investors. During the period in which the Fund is
closed, Berger shall reduce the 12b-1 fee payable by BSCV; Inv by the amount of
such fee that is not utilized by Berger to provide or to compensate third party
administrators or other companies for providing shareholder services to
shareholders in connection with the distribution of shares.
7. Subsequent Events
The Board of Trustees of BIP Trust approved a 7-for-1 split of the shares of
TECH;Inv and TECH;Inst to shareholders of record on October 16, 2000.
Shareholders received six additional fund shares on October 17, 2000 for every
one fund share owned on record date. The share and per share data presented in
these financial statements have been restated to reflect this split.
<PAGE> 67
Notes to Financial Statements 67
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger
International Portfolio
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Country/Shares Company Industry Value
-------------- ------- -------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Common Stock (97.17%)
Australia (3.34%)
61,520 Brambles Industries Ltd. Transport $ 1,611,960
166,490 National Australia Bank Ltd. Banks 2,305,724
299,690 News Corp. Ltd. Media & Photography 4,230,633
286,745 Telstra Corp. Ltd. Telecommunications Services 940,356
189,620 Westpac Banking Corp. Ltd. Banks 1,312,665
------------------
10,401,338
------------------
China (0.74%)
11,284,000 PetroChina Co. Ltd. Oil & Gas 2,301,291
------------------
Denmark (0.54%)
30,765 Tele Danmark - Class B Telecommunications Services 1,692,204
------------------
France (11.31%)
91,035 Alcatel Alsthom Information Technology Hardware 5,827,173
92,312 Aventis SA Pharmaceuticals 6,927,692
51,773 AXA Insurance 6,765,136
34,250 Michelin - Class B Automobiles 952,538
52,663 Total Fina SA - Class B Oil & Gas 7,709,063
95,028 Vivendi Diversified Industrials 7,064,398
------------------
35,246,000
------------------
Germany (4.45%)
38,150 Bayer AG Chemicals - Commodity 1,419,723
52,150 Bayerische HypoVereinsbank AG Banks 2,854,680
138,497 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG Automobiles 4,738,311
94,463 E.On AG Diversified Industrials 4,870,640
------------------
13,883,354
------------------
Hong Kong (2.67%)
227,000 Cheung Kong Real Estate 2,744,218
371,000 China Mobile Ltd.* Telecommunications Services 2,462,610
434,000 China Unicom Ltd.* Telecommunications Services 971,396
226,000 Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. Real Estate 2,130,626
------------------
8,308,850
------------------
Italy (2.63%)
411,566 ENI S.p.A. Oil & Gas 2,180,229
566,607 Telecom Italia S.p.A. Telecommunications Services 6,023,098
------------------
8,203,327
------------------
Japan (16.03%)
18,000 ACOM Co. Ltd. Specialty & Other Finance 1,500,069
77,000 Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. Banks 910,495
173,000 Canon, Inc. Electronic & Electrical Equipment 7,673,225
83,000 Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. Media & Photography 2,782,165
472,000 Hitachi Ltd. Information Technology Hardware 5,480,698
30,000 Hoya Corp. Electronic & Electrical Equipment 2,352,886
26,700 Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Information Technology Hardware 3,683,781
193,000 NEC Corp.+ Information Technology Hardware 4,387,379
221 Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.+ Telecommunications Services 2,169,174
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 68
68
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger
International Portfolio
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Country/Shares Company Industry Value
-------------- ------- -------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Common Stock (97.17%) - continued
Japan (16.03%) - continued
126 NTT DoCoMo, Inc. Telecommunication Services $ 3,616,834
11,200 Rohm Co. Ltd. Information Technology Hardware 3,070,808
55,000 Shiseido Co. Ltd. Personal Care & Household Products 683,457
8,800 SMC Corp. Engineering & Machinery 1,478,957
28,600 Sony Corp. Household Goods & Textiles 2,902,504
87,000 Takeda Chemical Industries Pharmaceuticals 5,751,933
13,900 Takefuji Corp. Specialty & Other Finance 1,531,645
------------------
49,976,010
------------------
Netherlands (12.79%)
204,180 ABN Amro Holdings NV Banks 4,759,141
158,137 Elsevier NV Media & Photography 1,773,163
56,877 Fortis NV Banks 1,742,519
28,670 Heineken NV Beverages 1,594,702
172,417 ING Groep NV Banks 11,490,091
164,930 Koninklijke Ahold NV Food & Drug Retailers 4,678,664
129,247 Koninklijke KPN NV Electronics & Electrical Equipment 2,816,300
90,541 Philips Electronics NV Household Goods & Textiles 3,898,607
60,480 Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. Oil & Gas 3,657,214
73,490 TNT Post Group NV Support Services 1,709,701
34,860 VNU NV Media & Photography 1,754,339
------------------
39,874,441
------------------
Portugal (0.26%)
257,750 Electricidade de Portugal SA Electricity 814,691
------------------
Singapore (0.98%)
164,026 Development Bank of Singapore Ltd.* Banks 1,810,462
41,000 Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd.* Banks 259,269
65,000 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.* Media & Photography 975,280
------------------
3,045,011
------------------
South Korea (0.45%)
15,620 Korea Telecom Corp. - Spon. ADR Telecommunication Services 525,222
47,300 Pohang Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. - Spon. ADR Steel & Other Materials 880,962
------------------
1,406,184
------------------
Spain (2.56%)
346,322 Banco De Santander SA* Banks 3,803,750
210,886 Telefonica SA* Telecommunication Services 4,179,993
------------------
7,983,743
------------------
Sweden (1.27%)
261,190 Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson - Class B Information Technology Services 3,973,863
------------------
Switzerland (9.32%)
2,052 Lonza AG Reg. Packaging 973,971
3,680 Nestle SA Food Producers and Processors 7,677,774
3,401 Novartis AG Reg. Pharmaceuticals 5,223,210
493 Roche Holding AG Pharmaceuticals 4,342,857
2,992 Swiss Re Insurance 5,722,167
38,452 Union Bank of Switzerland AG Reg. Banks 5,125,447
------------------
29,065,426
------------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 69
International Portfolio 69
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
Country/Shares/Par Value Company Industry Value
------------------------ ------- -------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Common Stock (97.17%) - continued
United Kingdom (27.83%)
238,303 Allied Zurich PLC Insurance $ 2,705,945
89,105 AstraZeneca PLC Pharmaceuticals 4,662,930
246,150 Barclays PLC Banks 6,804,071
376,030 Cable & Wireless PLC Telecommunications Services 5,358,126
328,010 Cadbury Schweppes PLC Food Producers & Processors 1,937,359
420,794 Diageo PLC Beverages 3,756,029
197,356 Emi Group PLC - Class B Media & Photography 1,573,646
210,285 Glaxo Wellcome PLC Pharmaceuticals 6,359,184
367,298 Granada Compass PLC* Leisure, Entertainment & Hotels 3,433,091
84,826 Granada Media PLC* Leisure, Entertainment & Hotels 564,896
461,800 Hilton Group PLC Leisure, Entertainment & Hotels 1,322,875
672,164 Invensys PLC Engineering & Machinery 1,466,445
519,847 Lloyds TSB Group PLC Banks 4,843,597
295,300 Marconi PLC Telecommunications Equipment 4,033,372
100,570 Pearson PLC Media & Photography 2,790,348
116,400 Peninsular & Orient Steam
Navigation Co. PLC Transport 1,022,664
345,965 Prudential PLC Life Assurance 4,715,166
63,610 Railtrack Group PLC Transport 1,041,645
174,650 Reuters Group PLC Media & Photography 3,306,128
82,800 RMC Group PLC Construction & Building Materials 721,349
924,804 Shell Transport & Trading Co. PLC Oil & Gas 7,524,271
77,900 3i Group PLC Investment Co. 1,935,908
144,600 TI Group PLC Engineering & Machinery 740,902
3,392,850 Vodafone Group PLC Telecommunications Services 12,649,997
124,500 WPP Group PLC Media & Photography 1,489,077
------------------
86,759,021
------------------
Total Common Stock (Cost $254,336,160) 302,934,754
------------------
Repurchase Agreement (0.56%)
$1,761,000 State Street Repurchase Agreement, 6.32%
dated September 29, 2000, to be repurchased at
$1,761,927 on October 2, 2000, collateralized by
FNMA Agency Note, 5.96% - October 18, 2000
with a value of $1,797,187 1,761,000
------------------
Total Repurchase Agreement (Cost $1,761,000) 1,761,000
------------------
Total Investments (Cost $256,097,160) (97.73%) 304,695,754
Total Other Assets, Less Liabilities (2.27%) 7,072,204
------------------
Net Assets (100.00%) $ 311,767,958
------------------
</TABLE>
Outstanding Forward Foreign Currency Contracts
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Contract Maturity Value on Unrealized
Currency Amount Date September 30, 2000 Appreciation
------------ ----------- ---------- ------------------ ------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Sell Japanese Yen 173,160,000 10/5/2000 $ 1,604,671 $ 30,333
Sell Japanese Yen 283,256,000 10/23/2000 2,631,146 32,399
Sell Japanese Yen 231,538,000 10/30/2000 2,152,780 9,358
------------------ ------------
$ 6,388,597 $ 72,090
------------------ ------------
</TABLE>
* Non-income producing security.
+ - Security is designated as collateral for forward foreign currency contracts.
ADR - American Depositary Receipt.
FNMA - Federal National Mortgage Association.
PLC - Public Limited Company.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 70
70
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Berger
International Portfolio
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
September 30, 2000
------------------
<S> <C>
Assets
Investments, at cost $ 256,097,160
------------------
Investments, at value $ 304,695,754
Cash 795
Foreign cash (cost $1,913,932) 1,909,957
Receivables
Investment securities sold 1,372,229
Contributions 14,947,873
Dividends 772,457
Interest 618
Net unrealized appreciation on forward currency contracts 72,090
Investment held as collateral for securities loaned 27,253,232
------------------
Total Assets 351,025,005
------------------
Liabilities
Payables
Investment securities purchased 880,420
Withdrawals 10,869,945
Collateral on securities loaned 27,253,232
Accrued investment advisory fees 225,578
Accrued custodian and accounting fees 7,047
Accrued audit fees 20,600
Other accrued expenses 225
------------------
Total Liabilities 39,257,047
------------------
Net Assets $ 311,767,958
------------------
</TABLE>
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Year Ended
September 30, 2000
------------------
<S> <C>
Investment Income
Dividends (net of foreign tax withholding of $710,642) $ 4,640,591
Interest 569,045
Securities lending income 163,942
------------------
Total Income 5,373,578
------------------
Expenses
Investment advisory fees 2,816,443
Accounting fees 69,223
Custodian fees 135,655
Registration fees 271
Audit fees 33,625
Legal fees 5,618
Trustees' fees and expenses 17,890
Shareholder reporting fees 7,771
Other expenses 12,234
------------------
Gross Expenses 3,098,730
Less earnings credits (69,131)
------------------
Net Expenses 3,029,599
------------------
Net Investment Income 2,343,979
------------------
Net realized and unrealized gain on securities and
Foreign Currency Transactions
Net realized gain on securities and foreign currency transactions 27,968,844
Net change in unrealized appreciation on securities and foreign currency transactions (844,495)
------------------
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions 27,124,349
------------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations $ 29,468,328
------------------
</TABLE>
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 71
International Portfolio 71
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30, 2000 1999
------------------------- -------------- --------------
<S> <C> <C>
From Operations
Net investment income $ 2,343,979 $ 1,669,631
Net realized gain (loss) on securities and foreign currency transactions 27,968,844 (5,205,587)
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on securities and
foreign currency transactions (844,495) 58,159,547
-------------- --------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations 29,468,328 54,623,591
-------------- --------------
From Transactions in Investors' Beneficial Interest
Contributions 450,398,066 161,557,439
Withdrawals (433,309,806) (128,565,460)
-------------- --------------
Net Increase in Net Assets Derived from Investors' Beneficial Interest Transactions 17,088,260 32,991,979
-------------- --------------
Net Increase in Net Assets 46,556,588 87,615,570
Net Assets
Beginning of period 265,211,370 177,595,800
-------------- --------------
End of period $ 311,767,958 $ 265,211,370
-------------- --------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30, Period from
-------------------------------------------- October 11, 1996(1)
2000 1999 1998 to September 30, 1997
------------ ------------ ------------ ---------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Ratios/Supplementary Data
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 311,768 $ 265,211 $ 177,596 $ 122,217
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 0.97% 1.00% 1.00% 0.89%(2)
Ratio of net investment income to average net assets 0.73% 0.75% 3.45% 1.63%(2)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 0.97% 1.01% 1.04% 1.10%(2)
Portfolio turnover rate(4) 31% 16% 17% 17%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations.
(2) Annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Not annualized.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 72
72
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Notes to Financial
Statements
September 30, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Organization and Significant Accounting Policies
Organization
The Berger International Portfolio (the "Portfolio") is registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as a diversified open-end management
investment company. The Portfolio is a series of the Berger Worldwide Portfolios
Trust (the "Trust"), which was organized as a Delaware business trust on May 31,
1996. Currently there are three investors in the Portfolio: the Berger
International Fund, the International Equity Fund and the Berger International
CORE Fund.
On January 19, 2000, Berger LLC ("Berger") and Bank of Ireland Asset Management
(U.S.) Limited ("BIAM") entered into an agreement to dissolve BBOI. This
agreement was approved by shareholders on May 5, 2000. The dissolution of BBOI
had no effect on the investment advisory services provided to the Portfolio.
Upon approval of the new management agreement, Berger became the Portfolio's
advisor and BIAM continues to be responsible for the day-to-day management of
the Portfolio's investments as sub-advisor. In connection with the dissolution,
the Portfolio was renamed Berger International Portfolio from Berger/BIAM
International Portfolio. Additionally, the Trust was renamed Berger Worldwide
Portfolios Trust from Berger/BIAM Worldwide Portfolios Trust.
Significant Accounting Policies
The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently
followed by the Portfolio in the preparation of its financial statements. The
policies are in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
Investment Valuation
Securities are valued at the close of the regular trading session of the New
York Stock Exchange (the "Exchange") on each day that the Exchange is open.
Securities listed on national exchanges, the Nasdaq Stock Market and foreign
exchanges are valued at the last sale price on such markets, or, if no last sale
price is available, they are valued using the mean between their current bid and
ask prices. Prices of foreign securities are converted to U.S. dollars using
exchange rates determined prior to the close of the Exchange. Securities traded
in the over-the-counter market are valued at the mean between their current bid
and ask prices. Short-term obligations maturing within sixty days are valued at
amortized cost, which approximates market value. Securities for which quotations
are not readily available are valued at fair values as determined in good faith
pursuant to consistently applied procedures established by the trustees of the
Portfolio.
Generally, trading in foreign securities markets is substantially completed each
day at various times prior to the close of the Exchange. The values of foreign
securities are determined as of the earlier of such market close or the closing
time of the Exchange. Occasionally, events affecting the value of such
securities may occur between the times at which they are determined and the
close of the Exchange, or when the foreign market on which such securities trade
is closed but the Exchange is open. If during such periods, events occur that
materially affect the value of such securities, the securities will be valued at
their fair market value as determined in good faith pursuant to consistently
applied procedures established by the trustees of the Portfolio.
Foreign Currency Translation
Assets and liabilities initially expressed in terms of foreign currencies are
translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates as quoted by one or
more banks or dealers on the date of valuation. The cost of securities is
translated into U.S. dollars at the rates of exchange prevailing when such
securities were acquired. Income and expenses are translated into U.S. dollars
at rates of exchange prevailing when accrued.
Federal Income Taxes
The Portfolio is considered a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As
such, each investor in the Portfolio will be taxed on its share of the
Portfolio's ordinary income and capital gains. It is intended that the
Portfolio's assets will be managed in such a way that an investor in the
Portfolio will be able to satisfy the requirements of Sub-Chapter M of the
Internal Revenue Code.
Investment Transactions And Investment Income
Investment transactions are accounted for on the date investments are purchased
or sold. Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date except that certain
dividends from foreign securities are reported as soon as the Portfolio is
informed of the ex-dividend date if such information is obtained subsequent to
the ex-dividend date. Dividend income is recorded net of foreign taxes withheld.
Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis and includes accretion of
discount. Gains and losses are computed on the identified cost basis for both
financial statement and federal income tax purposes for all securities.
Use Of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that
affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of
contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and
the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations
during the reporting period. Actual results may differ from those estimates.
2. Agreements
BBOI, prior to its dissolution, rendered investment advisory services to the
Portfolio pursuant to an agreement that provided for an investment advisory fee
to be paid to BBOI at the annual rate of .90% of the Portfolio's average daily
net assets. Effective May 12, 2000 in connection with the dissolution of BBOI,
investment advisory fees charged to the Portfolio by Berger were reduced
according to the following schedule: Average Daily Net Assets Annual Rate
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Average Daily
Net Assets Annual Rate
------------- -----------
<S> <C>
First $500 million .85%
Next $500 million .80%
Over $1 billion .75%
</TABLE>
Berger pays BIAM a sub-advisory fee from the investment advisory fee it receives
from the Portfolio. Berger is also responsible for providing for or arranging
for all managerial and administrative services necessary for the operations of
the Portfolio.
<PAGE> 73
Notes to Financial Statements 73
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Portfolio has entered into recordkeeping and pricing agreements with State
Street Bank and Trust Company ("State Street"), which also serves as the
Portfolio's custodian. The recordkeeping and pricing agreements provide for the
monthly payment of a base fee plus a fee computed as a percentage of average
daily net assets on a total relationship basis with other funds in the Berger
Funds complex. State Street's fees for custody, recordkeeping and pricing are
subject to reduction by credits earned by the Portfolio, based on the cash
balances of the Portfolio held by State Street as custodian.
Certain officers and trustees of the Trust are officers and directors of Berger.
Trustees who are not affiliated with Berger are compensated for their services
according to a fee schedule, allocated among all of the funds in the Berger
Funds complex, which includes an annual fee component and a per meeting
component. The Portfolio's portion of the trustees' fees and expenses for the
year ended September 30, 2000, totaled $17,890.
The Trust adopted a Trustee Fee Deferral Plan (the "Plan") which allows the
non-affiliated trustees to defer the receipt of all or a portion of the trustee
fees payable. The deferred fees are invested in various funds managed by Berger
until distribution in accordance with the Plan.
3. Investment Transactions
Purchases And Sales
Purchases and sales proceeds of investment securities (excluding short-term
securities) during the year ended September 30, 2000 were as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Purchases Sales
--------- -----
<S> <C>
$ 114,062,605 $ 93,732,363
</TABLE>
There were no purchases or sales of long-term U.S. government securities during
the year ended September 30, 2000.
Unrealized Appreciation, Unrealized Depreciation And Federal Tax Cost Of
Securities.
At September 30, 2000, the federal tax cost of securities and the composition of
net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investment securities held were as
follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Gross Unrealized Gross Unrealized Net
Federal Tax Cost Appreciation Depreciation Appreciation
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
$256,740,056 $ 61,913,161 $ (13,957,463) $ 47,955,698
</TABLE>
Forward Currency Contracts
The Portfolio may enter into forward foreign currency exchange contracts for the
purpose of hedging the Portfolio against exposure to market value fluctuations
in foreign currencies. The use of such instruments may involve risks such as the
possibility of illiquid markets or imperfect correlation between the value of
the contracts and the underlying securities, or that the counterparty will fail
to perform its obligations. Forward currency contracts and foreign denominated
assets may involve more risks than domestic transactions, including currency
risk, political and economic risk, regulatory risk and market risk. Risk may
arise from the potential inability of a counterparty to meet the terms of a
contract and from unanticipated movements in the value of foreign currencies
relative to the U.S. dollar. The forward foreign currency exchange contracts are
adjusted to the daily exchange rate of the underlying currency and any gains or
losses are recorded for financial statement purposes as unrealized gains or
losses until the contract settlement date. Realized and unrealized gains or
losses on these securities are included in Net Realized and Unrealized Gain
(Loss) on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions in the Statement of
Operations.
Securities Lending
Under an agreement with State Street, the Portfolio has the ability to lend
securities to brokers, dealers and other authorized financial institutions.
Loans of portfolio securities are collateralized by cash remitted from the
borrower of such securities in an amount equal to at least 102% of the market
value of the loaned securities at the time the loan is made. The cash collateral
received is invested in a money market fund and is evaluated daily to ensure
that its market value exceeds the current market value of the loaned securities.
Income generated by such investment, net of any rebates paid to the borrower, is
split among the Portfolio and State Street as lending agent. At September 30,
2000, the Portfolio had securities on loan with a market value of $25,904,366.
Repurchase Agreements
Repurchase agreements held by the Portfolio are fully collateralized by U.S.
government and government agency securities and such collateral is in the
possession of the Portfolio's custodian. The collateral is evaluated daily to
ensure its market value exceeds the current market value of the repurchase
agreements including accrued interest. In the event of default on the obligation
to repurchase, the Portfolio has the right to liquidate the collateral and apply
the proceeds in satisfaction of the obligation. In the event of default or
bankruptcy by the other party to the agreement, realization and/or retention of
the collateral or proceeds may be subject to legal proceedings.
Concentration of Risk
The Portfolio may have elements of risk due to concentrated investments in
specific industries or foreign issuers located in a specific country. Such
concentrations may subject the Portfolio to additional risk resulting from
future political or economic conditions and/or possible impositions of adverse
foreign governmental laws or currency exchange restrictions. Net Realized and
Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Securities and Foreign Currency Transactions in the
Statement of Operations includes fluctuations from currency exchange rates and
fluctuations in market value of securities.
4. Line of Credit
The Portfolio, along with certain other funds managed by Berger, is party to an
ongoing agreement with certain banks that allows these funds and the Portfolio,
collectively, to borrow up to $150 million, subject to certain conditions, for
temporary or emergency purposes. Interest, based on the Federal Funds Rate, is
charged to the specific party that executes the borrowing. In addition, the
unsecured line of credit requires a quarterly payment of a commitment fee based
on the average daily unused portion of the line of credit. At September 30,
2000, the Portfolio had no borrowings outstanding on the line of credit.
<PAGE> 74
74
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Highlights
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Information Technology Fund - Investor Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Year Ended July 2, 1999(1) to
September 30, 2000(2) September 30, 1999(2)
--------------------- ---------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 8.21 $ 7.64
------------ ------------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.00)(5) (0.00)(5)
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 9.43 0.57
------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 9.43 0.57
------------ ------------
Less dividends and distributions
Distributions (from capital gains) (0.05) --
------------ ------------
Total dividends and distributions (0.05) --
------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 17.59 $ 8.21
------------ ------------
Total Return(6) 114.97% 7.46%
------------ ------------
Ratios/supplemental data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 72,173 $ 4,811
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.63% 1.83%(4)
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (1.36)% (1.58)%(4)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.63% 2.16%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(6) 38% 31%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations for Investor Shares.
(2) All per share data has been adjusted to reflect a 7-for-1 share split,
effective October 17, 2000 (See Note 7).
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Annualized.
(5) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
(6) Not annualized.
Berger Information Technology Fund - Institutional Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Year Ended March 1, 1999 to
September 30, 2000(2) September 30, 1999(2)
--------------------- ---------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 8.21 $ 6.34
---------- ----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.00)(5) (0.00)(5)
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 9.51 1.97
---------- ----------
Total from investment operations 9.51 1.97
---------- ----------
Less dividends and distributions
Distributions (from capital gains) (0.05) (0.10)
---------- ----------
Total dividends and distributions (0.05) (0.10)
---------- ----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 17.67 $ 8.21
---------- ----------
Total Return(6) 115.86% 31.30%
---------- ----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 61,566 $ 20,094
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.03% 1.49%(4)
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (0.76)% (1.22)%(4)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.03% 1.94%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(6) 38% 31%
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Year Ended April 8, 1997(1) to
February 28, 1999(2) February 28, 1998(2)
-------------------- --------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 4.31 $ 2.86
---------- ----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.04) (0.01)
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 2.07 1.46
---------- ----------
Total from investment operations 2.03 1.45
---------- ----------
Less dividends and distributions
Distributions (from capital gains) -- --
---------- ----------
Total dividends and distributions -- --
---------- ----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 6.34 $ 4.31
---------- ----------
Total Return(6) 47.13% 50.75%
---------- ----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 12,446 $ 2,674
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.50% 1.50%(4)
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (1.19)% (1.01)%(4)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 2.67% 12.17%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(6) 35% 33%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations for Investor Shares.
(2) All per share data has been adjusted to reflect a 7-for-1 share split,
effective October 17, 2000 (See Note 7).
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Annualized.
(5) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
(6) Not annualized.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 75
Financial Highlights 75
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger New Generation Fund - Investor Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999 1998
------------ ------------ ------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 25.77 $ 12.66 $ 14.72
------------ ------------ ------------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.00)(6) (0.00)(6) --
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 16.77 13.61 (2.06)
------------ ------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 16.77 13.61 (2.06)
------------ ------------ ------------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) -- -- --
Distributions (from capital gains) (4.55) (0.50) --
------------ ------------ ------------
Total dividends and distributions (4.55) (0.50) 0.00
------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 37.99 $ 25.77 $ 12.66
------------ ------------ ------------
Total Return(2) 67.16% 110.82% (13.99)%
------------ ------------ ------------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 853,154 $ 330,938 $ 113,693
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.30% 1.54% 1.72%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets (1.11)% (1.29)% (1.37)%
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.30% 1.54% 1.72%
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 149% 168% 243%
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
March 29, 1996(1) to
1997 September 30, 1996
------------ ------------
<S> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 11.82 $ 10.00
------------ ------------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.13) 0.56
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 3.64 1.26
------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 3.51 1.82
------------ ------------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) (0.61) --
Distributions (from capital gains) -- --
------------ ------------
Total dividends and distributions (0.61) 0.00
------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 14.72 $ 11.82
------------ ------------
Total Return(2) 31.53% 18.20%
------------ ------------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 190,164 $ 116,912
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.89% 1.90%(4)
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets (1.51)% 12.35%(4)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.89% 2.09%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 184% 474%(5)
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations for Investor Shares.
(2) Not annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Annualized.
(5) Portfolio turnover was greater than anticipated during this period as a
result of portfolio transactions undertaken in response to volatile markets
and the short tax year for its initial period of operations.
(6) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
Berger New Generation Fund - Institutional Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Year Ended August 16, 1999(1)
September 30, 2000 to September 30, 1999
------------------ ---------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 25.79 $ 23.29
---------- ----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.00)(5) (0.00)(5)
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 16.41 2.50
---------- ----------
Total from investment operations 16.41 2.50
---------- ----------
Less dividends and distributions
Distributions (from capital gains) (4.53) --
---------- ----------
Total dividends and distributions (4.53) --
---------- ----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 37.67 $ 25.79
---------- ----------
Total Return(2) 65.68% 10.73%
---------- ----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 7,897 $ 347
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.17% 1.02%(4)
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (0.95)% (0.85)%(4)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.57% 1.02%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 149% 168%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations for Institutional Shares.
(2) Not annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Annualized.
(5) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 76
76
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Highlights
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Select Fund
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Years Ended September 30, December 31, 1997(1)
2000 1999 to September 30, 1998
------------ ------------ ---------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 19.17 $ 13.26 $ 10.00
------------ ------------ ------------
From investment operations
Net investment income (0.00)(6) 0.01 0.07
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 10.55 6.80 3.19
------------ ------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 10.55 6.81 3.26
------------ ------------ ------------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) (0.02) (0.05) --
Dividends (in excess of net investment income) -- (0.01) --
Distributions (from capital gains) (4.45) (0.84) --
------------ ------------ ------------
Total dividends and distributions (4.47) (0.90) --
------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 25.25 $ 19.17 $ 13.26
------------ ------------ ------------
Total Return(2) 55.73% 53.06% 32.60%
------------ ------------ ------------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 122,331 $ 101,352 $ 41,571
Gross/Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.23% 1.29% 1.48%(5)
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets (0.81)% 0.27% 1.13%(5)
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 123% 696% 1,486%(4)
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations.
(2) Not annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Portfolio turnover was greater than expected during this period due to
active trading undertaken in response to market conditions at a time when
the Fund's assets were still relatively small and before the Fund was fully
invested.
(5) Annualized.
(6) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 77
Financial Highlights 77
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Small Company Growth Fund - Investor Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999 1998 1997 1996
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 4.86 $ 3.61 $ 5.33 $ 4.74 $ 3.61
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.00)(1) (0.00)(1) -- (0.05) (0.03)
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 3.85 1.95 (1.24) 0.84 1.16
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
Total from investment operations 3.85 1.95 (1.24) 0.79 1.13
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) -- -- -- -- --
Distributions (from capital gains) (1.28) (0.70) (0.48) (0.20) --
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
Total dividends and distributions (1.28) (0.70) (0.48) (0.20) --
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
Net asset value, end of period $ 7.43 $ 4.86 $ 3.61 $ 5.33 $ 4.74
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
Total Return 84.27% 62.78% (24.70)% 17.68% 31.30%
---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $1,468,541 $ 675,637 $ 561,741 $ 902,685 $ 871,467
Net expense ratio to average net assets(2) 1.27% 1.60% 1.48% 1.67% 1.68%
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (0.83)% (1.21)% (1.01)% (1.09)% (0.97)%
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.27% 1.60% 1.59% 1.67% 1.68%
Portfolio turnover rate 92% 128% 97% 111% 91%
</TABLE>
(1) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share
(2) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
Berger Small Company Growth Fund - Institutional Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
October 16, 1999(1)
September 30, 2000
-------------------
<S> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 4.87
------------
From investment operations
Net investment income (0.00)(5)
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 3.86
------------
Total from investment operations 3.86
------------
Less dividends and distributions
Distributions (from capital gains) (1.30)
------------
Total dividends and distributions (1.30)
------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 7.43
------------
Total Return(3) 84.87%
------------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 5,886
Net expense ratio to average net assets(4) 1.05%(2)
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (0.47)%(2)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.59%(2)
Portfolio turnover rate(3) 92%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations for Institutional Shares.
(2) Annualized.
(3) Not annualized.
(4) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(5) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 78
78
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Highlights
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Small Cap Value Fund - Investor Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Years Ended September 30, February 14, 1997(1) to
2000 1999 1998 September 30, 1997
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 20.94 $ 17.58 $ 22.28 $ 17.24
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) 0.30 (0.02) 0.42 0.03
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 3.97 4.26 (2.58) 5.01
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total from investment operations 4.27 4.24 (2.16) 5.04
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) (0.20) (0.07) (0.17) --
Distributions (from capital gains) (0.23) (0.81) (2.37) --
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total dividends and distributions (0.43) (0.88) (2.54) --
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 24.78 $ 20.94 $ 17.58 $ 22.28
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total Return(2) 20.77% 24.69% (10.98)% 29.23%
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 859,030 $ 374,063 $ 108,465 $ 55,211
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.19% 1.37% 1.56% 1.66%(4)
Ratio of net investment income to average net assets 1.69% 1.36% 0.87% 0.60%(4)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.23% 1.37% 1.56% 1.66%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 72% 66% 69% 81%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations for Investor Shares.
(2) Not annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Annualized.
Berger Small Cap Value Fund - Institutional Shares
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Years Ended September 30, January 1, 1997 to
2000 1999 1998 September 30, 1997
----------- ----------- ----------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 21.00 $ 17.63 $ 22.33 $ 16.48
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) 0.33 0.04 0.45 0.07
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 4.01 4.28 (2.55) 5.78
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total from investment operations 4.34 4.32 (2.10) 5.85
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) (0.24) (0.14) (0.23) --
Distributions (from capital gains) (0.23) (0.81) (2.37) --
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total dividends and distributions (0.47) (0.95) (2.60) --
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 24.87 $ 21.00 $ 17.63 $ 22.33
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
TOTAL RETURN(2) 21.09% 25.18% (10.65)% 33.50%
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 862,318 $ 414,347 $ 92,787 $ 58,450
Gross/Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 0.88% 1.01% 1.19% 1.34%(1)
Ratio of net investment income to average
net assets 1.99% 1.69% 1.26% 0.63%(1)
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 72% 66% 69% 81%
<CAPTION>
Years Ended December 31,
1996 1995
----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 14.57 $ 12.75
----------- -----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) 0.12 0.09
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 3.62 3.23
----------- -----------
Total from investment operations 3.74 3.32
----------- -----------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) (0.11) (0.09)
Distributions (from capital gains) (1.72) (1.41)
----------- -----------
Total dividends and distributions (1.83) (1.50)
----------- -----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 16.48 $ 14.57
----------- -----------
TOTAL RETURN(2) 25.58% 26.07%
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 36,041 $ 31,833
Gross/Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.48% 1.64%
Ratio of net investment income to average
net assets 0.69% 0.64%
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 69% 90%
</TABLE>
(1) Annualized.
(2) Not annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 79
Financial Highlights 79
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Mid Cap Growth Fund
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Years Ended September 30, December 31, 1997(1)
2000 1999 to September 30, 1998
----------- ----------- ---------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 21.82 $ 10.93 $ 10.00
----------- ----------- -----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) -- (0.00)(5) --
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 20.75 11.10 0.93
----------- ----------- -----------
Total from investment operations 20.75 11.10 0.93
----------- ----------- -----------
Less dividends and distributions
Distributions (from capital gains) (1.30) (0.21) --
----------- ----------- -----------
Total dividends and distributions (1.30) (0.21) --
----------- ----------- -----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 41.27 $ 21.82 $ 10.93
----------- ----------- -----------
Total Return(2) 95.98% 102.76% 9.30%
----------- ----------- -----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 122,564 $ 25,550 $ 4,283
Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.28% 1.78% 2.00%(4)
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (0.84)% (1.03)% (0.82)%(4)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.28% 1.78% 2.46%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 150% 178% 262%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations.
(2) Not annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Annualized.
(5) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
Berger Mid Cap Value Fund
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Years Ended September 30, August 12, 1998(1)
2000 1999 to September 30, 1998
---------- ---------- ---------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 12.17 $ 9.33 $ 10.00
---------- ---------- ----------
From investment operations
Net investment income 0.08 0.07 0.03
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 3.46 2.83 (0.70)
---------- ---------- ----------
Total from investment operations 3.54 2.90 (0.67)
---------- ---------- ----------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) (0.04) (0.06) --
Dividends (from capital gains) (1.24) -- --
---------- ---------- ----------
Total dividends and distributions (1.28) (0.06) --
---------- ---------- ----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 14.43 $ 12.17 $ 9.33
----------- ----------- -----------
Total Return(2) 31.11% 31.12% (6.70)%
---------- ---------- ----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 33,013 $ 22,918 $ 19,710
Gross/Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.59% 1.62% 1.68%(4)
Ratio of net investment income to average net assets 0.72% 0.54% 2.30%(4)
Portfolio turnover rate(2) 129% 154% 25%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations.
(2) Not annualized.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(4) Annualized.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 80
80
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Financial
Highlights
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Growth Fund
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999 1998 1997(1) 1996(1)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 15.56 $ 11.99 $ 21.51 $ 19.64 $ 18.89
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
From investment operations
Net investment loss -- (0.00)(2) -- (0.09) (0.08)
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 8.89 4.55 (2.57) 4.73 1.76
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 8.89 4.55 (2.57) 4.64 1.68
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Less dividends and distributions
Distributions (from capital gains) (3.58) (0.98) (6.95) (2.77) (0.93)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total dividends and distributions (3.58) (0.98) (6.95) (2.77) (0.93)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 20.87 $ 15.56 $ 11.99 $ 21.51 $ 19.64
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total Return 60.93% 38.96% (16.08)% 26.50% 9.36%
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 1,947,772 $ 1,333,794 $ 1,286,828 $ 1,889,048 $ 2,012,706
Gross/Net expense ratio to average net assets(3) 1.13% 1.36% 1.38% 1.41% 1.42%
Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets (0.87)% (0.38)% (0.38)% (0.40)% (0.43)%
Portfolio turnover rate 70% 274% 280% 200% 122%
</TABLE>
(1) Per share calculations for the period were based on average shares
outstanding.
(2) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
(3) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
Berger Growth and Income Fund
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999 1998 1997 1996
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 15.32 $ 13.60 $ 16.72 $ 14.06 $ 12.89
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) -- (0.00)(3) 0.04 0.14 0.20
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions 8.27 4.53 (0.30) 4.28 1.17
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Total from investment operations 8.27 4.53 (0.26) 4.42 1.37
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) -- -- (0.03) (0.13) (0.20)
Dividends (in excess of net investment income) -- (0.01) (0.01) -- --
Distributions (from capital gains) (2.18) (2.80) (2.82) (1.63) --
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Total dividends and distributions (2.18) (2.81) (2.86) (1.76) (0.20)
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Net asset value, end of period $ 21.41 $ 15.32 $ 13.60 $ 16.72 $ 14.06
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Total Return 56.09% 38.67% (1.60)% 34.56% 10.66%
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 725,272 $ 379,356 $ 301,330 $ 357,023 $315,538
Gross/Net expense ratio to average net assets(1) 1.18% 1.35% 1.44% 1.51% 1.56%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets (0.17)% (0.22)% 0.25% 0.87% 1.39%
Portfolio turnover rate 74% 173% 417%(2) 173% 112%
</TABLE>
(1) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Advisor.
(2) Portfolio turnover was greater than expected
during this period due to active trading undertaken in response to market
conditions that existed at the time.
(3) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
See notes to financial statements
<PAGE> 81
Financial Highlights 81
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berger Balanced Fund
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Years Ended September 30,
2000 1999 1998(1)
----------- ----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 16.62 $ 13.28 $ 10.00
----------- ----------- -----------
From investment operations
Net investment income 0.28 0.23 0.22
Net realized and unrealized gains from
investments and foreign currency transactions 4.57 4.69 5.17
----------- ----------- -----------
Total from investment operations 4.85 4.92 5.39
----------- ----------- -----------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) (0.27) (0.23) (0.21)
Distributions (from capital gains) (1.82) (1.35) (1.90)
----------- ----------- -----------
Total dividends and distributions (2.09) (1.58) (2.11)
----------- ----------- -----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 19.38 $ 16.62 $ 13.28
----------- ----------- -----------
Total Return 30.08% 39.41% 56.77%
----------- ----------- -----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 176,798 $ 122,766 $ 30,721
Net expense ratio to average net assets(2) 1.14% 1.23% 1.50%
Ratio of net investment income to average net assets 1.48% 1.63% 1.81%
Gross expense ratio to average net assets 1.14% 1.23% 1.57%
Portfolio turnover rate 82% 227% 658%(3)
</TABLE>
(1) The fund had no financial highlights for the one day of operations during
the period ended September 30, 1997.
(2) Net expenses represent gross expenses
reduced by fees waived and/or reimbursed by the Advisor.
(3) Portfolio turnover was greater than expected during this period due to
higher than normal trading activity undertaken in response to market
conditions at a time when the Fund's assets were still relatively small and
before the Fund was fully invested.
Berger International Fund
For a Share Outstanding Throughout the Period
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Period from
Years Ended September 30, November 7, 1996(1) to
2000(7) 1999 1998 September 30, 1997
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 12.51 $ 10.06 $ 11.46 $ 10.00
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
From investment operations
Net investment income (loss) (0.00)(8) (0.07) 0.50 0.05
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) from
investments and foreign currency transactions
allocated from Portfolio 1.18 3.01 (1.46) 1.41
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total from investment operations 1.18 2.94 (0.96) 1.46
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Less dividends and distributions
Dividends (from net investment income) -- (0.47) (0.06) --
Distributions (from capital gains) -- (0.02) (0.38) --
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total dividends and distributions -- (0.49) (0.44) --
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Net asset value, end of period $ 13.69 $ 12.51 $ 10.06 $ 11.46
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total Return(3) 9.43% 29.64% (8.46)% 14.60%
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) $ 38,425 $ 23,014 $ 16,515 $ 18,673
Net expense ratio to average net assets(4),(5) 1.71% 1.76% 1.80% 1.90%(2)
Ratio of net income (loss) to average net assets (0.00)% (0.01)% 2.20% 0.61%(2)
Gross expense ratio to average net assets(5) 1.71% 1.77% 1.83% 1.99%(2)
Portfolio turnover rate(3),(6) 31% 16% 17% 17%
</TABLE>
(1) Commencement of investment operations.
(2) Annualized.
(3) Not annualized.
(4) Net expenses represent gross expenses reduced by fees waived and/or
reimbursed by the Portfolio's Advisor.
(5) Reflects the Fund's expenses plus the Fund's pro rata share of the
Portfolio's expenses.
(6) Represents the portfolio turnover rate of the Portfolio. All of the
investable assets of the Fund are invested in the Portfolio.
(7) Per share calculations for the period were based on average shares
outstanding.
(8) Amount represents less than $0.01 per share.
See notes to financial statements.
<PAGE> 82
82
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Report of Independent
Accountants
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To the Boards of Directors/Trustees and Shareholders of Berger Growth Fund,
Inc., Berger Growth and Income Fund, Inc., Berger Omni Investment Trust, Berger
Investment Portfolio Trust and Berger Worldwide Funds Trust, and to the Board of
Trustees and Investors of Berger Worldwide Portfolios Trust
In our opinion, the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including
the schedules of investments, and the related statements of operations and of
changes in net assets and the financial highlights or ratios/supplementary data,
as applicable, present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position
of Berger Growth Fund, Inc. (formerly Berger One Hundred Fund, Inc.), Berger
Growth and Income Fund, Inc., Berger Small Cap Value Fund (the sole fund
comprising Berger Omni Investment Trust), Berger Information Technology Fund,
Berger New Generation Fund, Berger Select Fund, Berger Small Company Growth
Fund, Berger Mid Cap Growth Fund, Berger Mid Cap Value Fund, and Berger Balanced
Fund (constituting Berger Investment Portfolio Trust), Berger International Fund
(formerly Berger/BIAM International Fund; one of the funds constituting Berger
Worldwide Funds Trust formerly Berger/BIAM Worldwide Funds Trust) and Berger
International Portfolio (formerly Berger/BIAM International Portfolio; the sole
portfolio comprising Berger Worldwide Portfolios Trust formerly Berger/BIAM
Worldwide Portfolios Trust) (collectively the "Funds") at September 30, 2000,
the results of each of their operations for the year then ended, the changes in
each of their net assets for each of the periods indicated and the financial
highlights or ratios/supplementary data for each of the periods indicated, in
conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America. These financial statements and financial highlights or
ratios/supplementary data (hereafter referred to as "financial statements") are
the responsibility of the Funds' management; our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our
audits of these financial statements in accordance with auditing standards
generally accepted in the United States of America, which require that we plan
and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a
test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at
September 30, 2000 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers, provide a
reasonable basis for our opinion. The financial statements of The Omni
Investment Fund (now known as Berger Omni Investment Trust) and InformationTech
100 Fund (now known as Berger Information Technology Fund) for the years ended
December 31, 1996 and February 28, 1999, respectively, were audited by other
independent accountants whose reports dated January 24, 1997 and March 26, 1999,
respectively, expressed unqualified opinions on those financial statements.
/s/ PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Denver, Colorado
November 8, 2000
<PAGE> 83
Financial Highlights 83
Berger Funds o September 30, 2000 Combined Annual Report
Other Matters (Unaudited)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A special meeting of shareholders of Berger International Fund was held on May
5, 2000, at which shareholders approved the following proposals:
Proposal 1. Approval of a new investment advisory agreement naming Berger LLC
("Berger") as investment advisor to the Berger International
Portfolio, replacing BBOI Worldwide LLC; and
Proposal 2. Approval of a new Sub-Advisory Agreement between Berger and Bank of
Ireland Asset Management (U.S.) Limited.
The following is a report of the votes cast:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Withheld/
For Against Abstain Total
--------- ---------- ------------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Proposal 1 1,425,311 6,248 15,529 1,447,088
Proposal 2 1,413,013 11,366 22,709 1,447,088
</TABLE>
<PAGE> 84
<TABLE>
<S> <C> <C>
Shareholders with questions should write to: PreSorted Standard
Berger Funds, c/o Berger LLC U.S. Postage
[BERGER FUNDS LOGO] P.O. Box 5005, Denver, CO 80217 PAID
or call 800-551-5849. PERMIT NO. 1
Visit our Web site at bergerfunds.com. Houston, Texas
</TABLE>
210 University Blvd
Denver, CO 80206 COMAR
