The big stock plunge 10 days ago turned out just fine, thanks, for sales of Banc One Corp.'s proprietary funds.
Banc One's stock and bond mutual funds reaped a windfall on the Monday after the Friday scare.
On March 8 the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 171 points, or 3%. On March 11, sales of stock and bond funds in the Columbus, Ohio company's One Group of Funds hit $4 million.
That made it the biggest day for sales since the $11.7 billion-asset fund family started tracking daily inflows two years ago, said a spokeswoman for Banc One Investment Advisors Corp.
Banc One customers seemed undeterred by the stock-market plunge. More than 80% of the One Group's sales March 11 were in stock mutual funds.
Michael Reed, president of Banc One's brokerage unit, said the high sales were a sign that customers are more interested in the long-term benefits of investing than in short-term corrections.
"Investing is about time, not timing," he said.