Funds face a dilemma as cash keeps coming

The mutual fund industry may be getting too big for its own good.

In the last week, the $10.2 billion Vanguard Primecap Fund andthe $4.2 billion Janus Overseas Fund shut their doors to newinvestors. Investors, they said, were throwing so much cash at themso fast that they couldn't invest it reasonably.

This was the second time Vanguard Primecap closed. The firstwas in March, 1995, when the fund had $2 billion in assets.Earlier this year, Fidelity Investments closed several popularfunds to new investors, and some analysts and industry executives saymore funds should do likewise. Cash is flowing into stock funds at arecord clip of about $22 billion a month so far …