As other fund managers were stockpiling cash late last year to meet shareholder redemptions, he was spending all he could afford.

When they did, "more than half of the portfolio securities were sold to meet shareholder redemptions," said Greg Stitt, a spokesman for Oppenheimer.

The shareholder redemptions have come as the technology sector has been roiled recently by earnings disappointments that have led to huge selloffs in certain stocks.

The fund lost 19 percent of its assets, or $51.2 million, because of shareholder redemptions in the 13 weeks, AMG said.

Three Van Wagoner funds - Emerging Growth, Micro-Cap and Mid-Cap - lost 15 percent to 18 percent each because of shareholder redemptions.

Normally, fund managers maintain higher cash levels to cover any shareholder redemptions and to provide a cushion should share prices decline.

By some onlookers' reckoning, the funds could be especially vulnerable in a bear market if shareholder redemptions forced the managers to dump stocks.

Additionally, Wall Street dealers were marking prices of bonds down on selling, or anticipated selling, by mutual funds that must raise cash to meet shareholder redemptions.

This can happen whenever the mutual fund sells portfolio securities, whether to reallocate its investments or to fund shareholder redemptions.

They can invest more aggressively than conventional mutual funds because they do not have to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions.