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The American Century family of funds has put up a Web page on y2k. On it, investors learn that the fund will have y2k under control.
The fund will be ready to test -- let's hear it! -- at the end of 1998! To which we now repeat to ourselves, "Lawyers be praised. Lawyers be praised."
Notice this phrase: ". . . American Century believes that no company can ever be completely insulated from the potential adverse effects of the change in the century on computer programs and systems. . . ."
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Q. What is American Century doing to get its computers ready for the Year 2000?
A. We have a huge effort underway to prepare the company’s computer systems for the Year 2000. Within our organization, over 50 people are working to make all of our systems Year 2000 compliant. The majority of the team is comprised of information technology professionals.
Also, we have selected an outside Year 2000 software firm to help us with this effort.
Q. How far are you in the process? What's next?
A. We have completed the assessment stage and are now beginning the renovation stage. The Year 2000 team has identified systems throughout the organization that will require upgrading and is preparing to reprogram them. After that, the team will test and implement programming "fixes".
Q. How long will this take?
A. This should take the remainder of 1998. Right now, it’s our desire to have every critical system Year 2000 compliant by the end of 1998, a full year ahead of time.
Q. How can I be assured that my dividend payments will not be affected in January 2000?
A. Throughout 1998 and 1999, we will test all our systems, including those involved in dividend payments, to verify the accuracy of dividend calculations. . . .
Q. What happens if your systems aren't updated by the year 2000?
A. We don’t expect that to be an issue. Our plan calls for all work on critical systems to be completed by the end of 1998, giving us a full year to completely validate our systems and test with our business partners. However, there could be unforeseen problems which prevent our systems from being 100% Year 2000 compliant at the turn of the century. For example, we may not be able to correct or avoid errors caused by systems or data provided by third parties. While American Century believes that no company can ever be completely insulated from the potential adverse effects of the change in the century on computer programs and systems, American Century is taking commercially reasonable steps to reach its goal of having its critical computer systems Year 2000 compliant by the end of 1998. . . .
Q. How will I know about the status of your systems or if there is cause for alarm?
A. We are committed to keeping our investors, business partners, vendors and employees updated on our progress. Take a look at
The Millenium Bug for an overview of the problem. You will see more information regarding Year 2000 in future issues of Investor Perspective. We will continue to provide periodic updates on this issue.
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