But bank failures are uncomfortably frequent and the fund to protect deposits is shrinking.

Such funds will probably shrink more this year, the firm predicts.

As the market spiraled upward, many customers left, and funds shrank.

Because the stock market drove down the value of its portfolio, the fund shrank even more.

That fund is down more than 50 percent this year and has shrunk to less than $100 million in assets.

At the same time, public funds for education have shrunk.

But the fund has shrunk steadily since then, to a mere $20 million.

Family Action saw demand for its welfare grants increase by 9% last year, while available funds are shrinking due to lower returns on investments.

The funds, which once had more than $2 billion in assets, have shrunk to less than $500 million.

Investors fled, performance lagged and the fund shrank to a third of its size by 1997.