NEW YORK (Dow Jones/AP) – Allegations of trading abuse kept investors away from the mutual fund companies directly mentioned in a scandal that broke in September, but they did little to turn people off from mutual funds in general.

According to data from Financial Research Corp. released Thursday, investors added $20.88 billion in new money to stock and bond mutual funds in September, far more than the $7.97 billion added in August and outpacing the average monthly inflow of $18 billion so far this year.

Encouraged by continued strength in stock markets, investors added a net $23.57 billion to domestic equity funds and nearly $2 billion to international funds.

Following a sell-off in the bond market over the summer, they withdrew a combined $5.45 billion from government and tax-free bond funds.

But some investors responded to the allegations of improper trading activities at certain firms, first announced by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on Sept. 3, by walking away from them.

Among the four companies cited by Spitzer, Janus Capital Group was the most severely punished by investors, as investors yanked a net $2.72 billion from its long-term funds, compared with an outflow of $738 million in August, according to FRC.

Strong Capital Management saw a net $270 million leave from its funds, compared with an inflow of $39.2 million in August.

Bank of America’s Nations Funds had net outflows of $35 million, after pulling in a net $33.7 million in August.

Bank One Corp.’s One Group was the only company among the four firms on Spitzer’s original list that had net inflows last month. But even its net sales were down to $122 million from $351 million in August.

Despite the signs of deteriorated sales at these firms, the data also suggest that only a small minority of investors sold off as an immediate reaction to the scandal.

Even at Janus, the net outflows accounted for just 3.3 percent of the company’s total long-term fund assets of $82.88 billion. At Nations Funds, the lost amount represented 0.1 percent of the total assets.

Since the initial report of Spitzer’s investigation in early September, several other fund companies have been accused of engaging in market timing or illegal after-hours trading, including Alliance Capital Management Holding, Fred Alger Management and Putnam Investments.

The reports on these companies didn’t come early enough to affect their sales data for September.

AP-ES-10-30-03 1832EST