NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - During the mid-to-late 1990's, too many technology companies with little more than a half-baked idea and flimsy business model went public. Remember TheGlobe.com, Webvan and gasp...Pets.com?

But the market mania didn't just give rise to scores of unprofitable tech companies -- it also created a glut of tech sector mutual funds.

According to Morningstar, there were only 46 tech funds in 1997. By 2000, that number mushroomed to 181. And even though the Nasdaq is now 11 percent lower than where it was at the end of 1997, there are still 135.

These figures include only the funds that Morningstar classifies as technology. There are many more communications funds and growth funds that invest primarily in tech.

Looks like more of them will need to go the way of the dodo.

"Too many tech funds were brought out in the 1990's and many of them were ill-conceived as long-term investments," said Christopher Traulsen, an analyst with Morningstar.

There have already been some notable closings. D.L. Babson liquidated its DLB Technology fund in December and U.S. Trust got tired of seeing the returns of the Excelsior Technology funds go ever downward. Pioneer shut down the Pioneer Science & Technology fund in January.

When a fund is liquidated, the investments are sold and proceeds are distributed back to shareholders.

Five that struggle These poorly performing tech funds have low net assets and high expense ratios. Fund  Net Assets  Expense Ratio  Performance*  SM&R Technology   Less than $1 million  8.5%  -38.6%  Jacob Internet  $38 million  4.6%  -58.1%  Willamette Technology  $9 million  3.3%  -53.4%  WWW Internet  $16 million  3.5%  -54.7%  AAL Technology Stock  $26 million  2.3%  -34.2%   * Based on 1-year annualized returns as of March 17 for SM&R and AAL. 3-year annualized returns used for other three funds.  Source:  Morningstar

More recently, Van Wagoner Funds, one the most prominent mutual fund firms during the tech boom, decided to liquidate three funds: the Van Wagoner Technology, Post-Venture and Mid-Cap Growth funds. Two other funds -- Van Wagoner Emerging Growth and Van Wagoner Small-Cap Growth remain and the firm is launching a new fund, Van Wagoner Growth Opportunities.

Some funds are not totally going away -- they are just getting folded into larger, more diversified offerings.

Waddell & Reed announced this month, for example, that it was merging the Ivy Global Science & Technology Fund, which has a five-year annualized loss of 17.4 percent into the W&R Science & Technology fund, which has a five-year annualized return of 9.3 percent.

Two Amerindo funds -- the Amerindo B2B Technology fund and Amerindo Health and Biotechnology funds are being folded into Amerindo Technology.

So which could be the next tech funds to say sayonara? Traulsen said the most obvious candidates are funds with relatively small asset bases (less than $250 million or so) and an expense ratio greater than 2 percent (the average for the tech fund category). The expense ratio represents the fund's operating costs, including management fees, divided by the fund's net assets. They are typically published at the end of the fund's fiscal year.

Here are five funds that meet that criteria: SM&R Technology, Jacob Internet, Willamette Technology, WWW Internet and AAL Technology Stock.

Recently in Tech Investor Intel's shift brings big challenges Beating Bill Gates: Part 2 Tablets bring smiles to the PC sector

Ryan Jacob, manager of the Jacob Internet fund, said that six months ago liquidation was a more likely scenario, since the fund had less than $10 million in assets but that the fund has been seeing inflows recently. The fund now has about $38 million in assets.

Lawrence York, manager of the WWW Internet fund, also said that liquidation isn't likely. He has decided to shut down the WWW Global Internet fund, however, and investors will have the option of transferring investments in that fund to the WWW Internet fund or two new non-Internet funds that his firm is rolling out (for more information on those, go to www.internetfund.com).

Brian Flanagan, co-manager of the AAL Technology Stock fund, said that his firm was not considering liquidating the fund or merging it with a broader offering. US Bancorp, the subadvisor for the Willamette Technology fund, would not comment about the fund and representatives for SM&R Alger did not return calls for comment.

Barring a major bounce in tech stocks, expect the number of tech offerings to start heading back towards 1997 levels. The Nasdaq has fallen more than 72 percent from its March 2000 peak but the number of tech funds has only decreased by 25 percent since then. Something's got to give.

"Investors are more aware of the risks associated with these offerings," said Traulsen. "We'll see more consolidation of technology funds and that's a healthy thing."