Fund Sales Fall Off

Long-term mutual fund sales through April 30 were down by almost half from the first four months of 1998, Financial Research Corp. of Boston reported last week. FRC said firms had net sales of long-term funds of $63.8 billion through April, down from $118.5 billion for the same period last year. International funds have had nearly $10 billion in net redemptions so far this year, FRC reported. In April, the top six selling fund groups accounted for nearly $19 billion out of total long-term fund sales of approximately $20.4 billion, FRC said. Those firms include the Vanguard Group of Malvern, Pa., Janus Funds of Denver, Colo., Fidelity Investments of Boston, Alliance Capital Management of New York, MFS Investment Management of Boston and Pimco Advisors of Newport Beach, Cal.