Analyst Group Frets Over Poor Performance AIMR turns to damage control as Internet researchers draw fire.(MAKING MONEY IN MUTUALS)(INVESTMENT TRENDS)

Byline: Ken Hoover

If analysts' poor performance has investors steaming, ithas the analysts worried.

One of their main organizations, the Association for Investment Management and Research, met in Los Angeles this week. They clearly were pained by this month's Fortune magazine cover that screamed, "Can we ever trust Wall Street again?"

Organization representatives and reporters met Monday to talk about analysts, whose prestige has dropped in the past year like a dot-com stock theyonce might have hyped.

"Time heals all wounds," said Arthur Zeikel, an AIMR board member and retired chairman of Merrill Lynch Asset Management. He says a lot of wrath aimed at analysts is …