European Sales of Mutual Funds Slows

European investors are buying stock mutual funds at about one-tenth the pace of last year on concern about a continuing slump in the equity markets, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney said Thursday.

Investors in Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain put a net $8.2 billion into stock funds in the first eight months of 2001, down from $97.3 billion in the same period last year.

As in the U.S. this year, European investors are opting for less-risky investments, putting $1.1 billion into bond funds in August and $6 billion into money market funds.

“The retail customer is in a state of shock,” said Michael Wrobel, head of retail sales at London-based Gartmore Investment Management.