Other investors said it was a blow to foreign equity investment.

American pension funds held about $120 billion in foreign equities at the beginning of 1993.

Another positive may be the generally rising tone of foreign equity markets.

"We're trying to create an appropriate role for large holders of foreign equities."

Last year, many of the most popular stock funds specialized in foreign equities.

"American investors should have up to 30 percent of their holdings in foreign equities," he said.

Korean companies with a turnover of more than $100m are now allowed to own foreign equities.

Indeed, some foreign equities, particularly those in the emerging markets, have gone on a tear.

Worldwide Value, a foreign equity fund, sells at a 19.6 percent discount for good reason, she said.

"And why not include this delicious foreign equity fund?"

Foreign equity funds lost 18 percent on average.

Not surprisingly, foreign equity portfolios have attracted significant sums of new money this month.

There are no specific restrictions of foreign equity ownership, but local participation, both shared capital and management, is encouraged.

During the bull market, international funds that invested in foreign equities were the best-performing group.

Their position is valued at about $1 billion and is one of the largest foreign equity investments in India.

The performance of foreign equities was even more remarkable, considering the unexpected rally in the dollar last year.

Foreign equity markets continued their recent trendless course.

If this trend is representative, it follows that access to foreign equity is just as rational.

Institutional investors account for about two-thirds of foreign equity investment in South Korea.

In the view of most participants, that activity was based on the sharp selloff in foreign equity markets.

Sophisticated pension funds invest only 5 percent to 10 percent in foreign equities, and individuals far less.

Instead, it was foreign equity portfolios that sparkled in the fourth quarter, surging 5.2 percent.

The pace of foreign equity purchases in the United States has increased at a fairly steady clip since the early 80's.

Investors continued to shuttle some money overseas, where foreign equity markets have, in general, been tracking or outperforming their American counterparts.

The collapse of stock prices in other countries prompted Americans to become net sellers of foreign equities last year, for the first time since 1978.