Flows Into Funds Soar in February

Investors poured $24.2 billion into mutual funds that invest in stocks in February, a mutual fund trade group said Monday.

The trade group, the Investment Company Institute, said the investments last month were up from $14.7 billion in January and up from $18.5 billion in February 1997.

February’s investment total was the biggest since September, when $25.6 billion was invested in stock mutual funds, the ICI said.

Mutual fund officials said investments during March remained strong.

“February was a record month for us and March surpassed that,” said John Reilly, spokesman for MFS Investment Management, a mutual fund company in Boston.

Hybrid funds--which include balanced, flexible portfolio, mixed income and asset allocation funds--took in $1.9 billion, down from $3.1 billion in January.

Taxable bond mutual funds took in $5.7 billion in February, compared with net investments of $7.2 billion the prior month.