Slowing Reported in Equity Fund Inflows

Some of America’s biggest mutual fund companies, including Fidelity Investments, said Monday that the pace of stock fund buying fell sharply in October from September.

Fidelity said domestic fund inflows were “slightly positive” in October, compared with inflows of more than $1 billion in September. About $100 million was withdrawn from international stock funds and an additional $100 million was pulled from bond funds, the Boston-based company said.

“Equity fund sales slowed down quite a bit from last month,” said Robyn Tice, Fidelity’s spokeswoman, who did not disclose the level of flows into the firm’s domestic stock funds.

Fidelity wasn’t the only company to report a reduction in equity fund inflows. So did Charles Schwab, Invesco Funds and Scudder, Stevens & Clark.

The reports came on the same day the Investment Company Institute said a net $17.42 billion was invested in equity funds in September, compared with $17.92 billion in August.

The ICI said a record $179.21 billion was invested in all types of stock funds in the first nine months of the year, surpassing the previous full-year high of $129.6 billion in 1993. The monthly record was set in January, when $28.9 billion was invested in stock funds, the ICI said. The lowest monthly stock fund inflow recorded this year was in July, when a net $6.2 billion was invested, the ICI reported.

Unlike Fidelity, Vanguard Group, Oppenheimer Funds and New England Funds said this month’s purchases of stock funds exceeded September levels. T. Rowe Price Associates said equity fund inflows totaled about the same in October as September.

Fidelity, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, New England Funds and Invesco all reported an increase in the purchase of low-risk money market funds this month, indicating that many investors are concerned about the U.S. stock market’s high level.