T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., the Baltimore-based mutual funds company, is offering a new mutual fund that combines the potential appreciation of common stocks with the income and stability of bonds over the long term.

The fund, called the Balanced Fund, received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission last week.

Common stocks are expected to represent about 60 percent of the fund's assets and fixed income securities, including cash reserves, will make up the rest, according to Price. A prospectus will be available Thursday.

Rich Whitney, president of the fund, will manage the domestic stocks portion. David Testa will manage the international stocks and Peter Van Dyke will handle the fixed-income securities.

It is Price's 35th mutual fund. The company has requests pending with the SEC to begin offering two additional funds. They would contain municipal bonds issued in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively.