T Rowe Price Associates Inc

Investments in U.S. mutual funds passed the $4-trillion mark for the first time last month, an industry trade group said Wednesday, and investors increased the pace of buying stock funds in July. Executives at Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group, T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., Charles Schwab Corp. and Scudder, Stevens & Clark Inc. reported estimated inflows higher in July than in June, providing the companies with one of their better months this year.

Pimco Advisors Holdings LP shares rose 6.7% Wednesday, a day after the Newport Beach money manager confirmed it is in negotiations to be acquired by German insurance giant Allianz AG. Pimco's stock moved up $2.19 to $34.94 a share on trading of 731,400 shares, more than five times the average daily volume over the last three months on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock gained $2.25 a share Tuesday before trading was halted. The acquisition, for about $4.

The U.S. mutual fund industry estimated that $24 billion poured into stock funds during January, the fourth-largest monthly inflow on record, the Investment Company Institute reported Wednesday. The one-month record was set in January 1996, when the trade group's figures showed $28.9 billion flowed into stock funds. Many of America's biggest fund companies, including Vanguard Group, T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., Janus Capital Corp. and OppenheimerFunds Inc.

Lockheed Martin Corp. said Wednesday that its profit this year and next will be even lower than the reduced forecasts it made last month, as sales decline and production delays mount. The second-biggest aerospace company said it will deliver just 20 to 25 C-130J cargo planes this year, less than the target of 30 that investors were told last month to expect. Lockheed's satellite production has also been hampered because of faulty parts from a supplier.

Long-term U.S. mutual funds attracted a record net $37.5 billion in March as investors pumped money into retirement accounts. An estimated net $27.5 billion went into stock funds, up from $24.2 billion in February, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday. An estimated net $7.5 billion was added to bond funds, versus $6.3 billion in February. So-called hybrid funds attracted $2.5 billion in March, ICI said. The total beat the $32.

A record $24.5 billion was invested in equity mutual funds in January, surpassing the old high of $18.4 billion set in January 1994, according to estimates published Wednesday by the Investment Company Institute. Money is pouring into stock funds at the same time the U.S. market surges to all-time highs and markets ranging from Germany to Hong Kong rally. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.33% in the first six weeks of 1996 to a record 5,492.12.

Investors are again buying U.S. equity mutual funds at high rates as the stock market rebounds after August's decline, fund companies reported Monday. About $21.2 billion is estimated to have flowed into stock funds this month, which would be the third-highest monthly inflow this year, according to Trim Tabs Financial Services Inc., which tracks industry money flows. The best months were January and July.

Mutual fund trading will soon be available on the nation's biggest computer online services, officials said. America Online Inc., the nation's biggest online service, and CompuServe, which ranks second, plan to offer shareholders of participating fund companies an electronic avenue to open new accounts, check balances, redeem shares and transfer money within a fund family. Vienna, Va.-based America Online announced plans for such a service in late January.

Fidelity Investments said Tuesday that it plans to introduce a series of "funds of funds" called LifePlan funds--five portfolios that will invest in the firm's other mutual funds. "We're still in the research and development stage rather than the roll-out stage," said Charles Dornbush, executive vice president of Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services Co. Fidelity's LifePlan series will likely be available by the end of the year, Dornbush said.