The SocGen Technology Fund, which has fallen 15% in the first three weeks of April, has stayed in the middle of the pack by holding a mix of large tech stocks with solid earnings and some smaller, riskier shares. The fund posted a 12-month return of 110.3% as of April 17.

"We've experienced the same pain as everyone else," says Alan Torry, co-manager of the SocGen Technology fund in London.

Chris Godding, co-manager of the fund, warns that even though the Nasdaq Stock Market might have some small comebacks, there could be serious trouble ahead. "It's like prehistoric mud - you could sink forever," he says. "I have no idea where the bottom is."

Mr. Godding says the key to surviving is not to act too rashly. "From the experience of 1987 [the last major plunge in tech stocks] we learned that inactivity is the best thing," he says. "We've only bought a few shares."In the last week he bought some shares of U.S. software provider BEA Systems Inc. and U.S. semiconductor maker Cree Inc. He also bought shares of the U.S. information services company Ceridian Corp.

The fund's largest holdings include: JDS Uniphase Corp., a Canadian fiber optics company; Citrix Systems Inc., a U.S. maker of server products; and Aspec Technology Inc., a U.S. maker of implementation software, such as electrical circuit libraries.

Mr. Torry says he and his partner are increasingly worried about further fallout from recent initial public offerings. He says that even though the IPO market has canceled many low-quality offerings, there could still be problems from some of the deals taken to market in the past six months.

He is worried that when the lockup periods for new stocks have expired, there could be a flood of stock into the market. In other words, when managers of various Internet companies get a chance to sell stock, they could set off another selling panic in the market. "This is a danger that we are trying to track," Mr. Torry says.

Meanwhile, Doug Blatch, manager of the Guinness Flight Wired Index Fund in Capetown, South Africa, says he is using a mix of New and Old Economy stocks in his fund, which helped the performance when tech stocks took a dive. About half of the fund is invested in pure technology stocks.

"I have a lot of traditional companies that are using new technology," he says. "I would call these companies New Economy stocks, but a lot of other people wouldn't."

The fund, which closely tracks the Wired Index, published by the technology magazine Wired, holds stocks such as the U.S. companies Enron Oil & Gas Co., Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., and Schlumberger Ltd.

In contrast, the Premier Technology fund, which is managed by Sanjay Rijhsinghani of Laing & Cruickshank, holds more fast-rising and fast-falling tech shares. Mr. Rijhsinghani took over as manager in June 1998 and turned it into a technology fund with top holdings such as Austrian companies YLine Internet Business Services AG and software maker Fabasoft AG.

"When the market dips, you will find the weakness shows in my fund," Mr. Righsinghani says. "My top holdings are not the top holdings of other tech funds. But my peer group will have my top holdings as their top holdings in 12 months."

After the recent plunge in tech stocks, Mr. Rijhsinghani picked up some shares of Infospace.com and i2 Technologies Inc. "It is difficult to be proactive in this market," he says. "All you can do is react to the way the market moves."

-- The Wall Street Journal