1.   Ariel has made the most headway, and is included in the fund supermarkets of Charles Schwab, Jack White and Fidelity Investments.

2.   Advisers use the fund supermarkets because their consolidated balance sheets provide an efficient way to handle client paperwork.

3.   Advisers can use fund supermarkets and brokerage-firm wrap accounts to assemble fund portfolios from many companies without incurring transaction fees.

4.   But you can get in with much less money if you buy through a fund supermarket.

5.   Investors can buy funds on the sites of many no-load fund companies or through the sites of one of several brokerage firms that offer fund supermarkets.

6.   Investors like fund supermarkets because they consolidate paperwork and transactions.

7.   It sounds like a bad deal, yet discount brokers are increasingly offering funds with sales charges, or loads, along with no-load funds in their fund supermarkets.

8.   PaineWebber Inc., Prudential Securities Inc. and Merrill itself plan to start no-load fund supermarkets soon.

9.   The advantages of fund supermarkets are low cost, wide selection and convenience.

10.   The convenience of the fund supermarkets has made them popular with investors.