ICI Viewpoints Content

Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) represent the largest share of assets in the US retirement market, with assets totaling $13.9 trillion at year-end 2021 (Figure 1). Forty-five percent of this total is held in mutual funds, with IRA mutual fund investors primarily invested in...

Core bond mutual funds’ activities during March 2020 had little impact on the investment grade corporate bond market. According to an ICI study, the timing and small size of core bond mutual funds’ daily net sales of investment grade corporate bonds is inconsistent with some...

For more than 80 years, our part of the financial industry – mutual funds, ETFs, and money market funds – has been one of the most well-regulated and transparent in the world, which is appropriate given our central role in managing money for hundreds of millions of Americans. It is...

Bond mutual funds’ activities during March 2020 had little impact on the investment grade corporate bond market. According to an ICI study, core bond mutual funds, on net, sold only $8 billion of their $780 billion in holdings of investment grade corporate bonds in the first three...

For more than half a century, ICI has produced an annual Fact Book featuring research, analysis and data compiled over the previous year. These data are key to ICI’s efforts to help support the foundation of the asset management industry for the ultimate benefit of the long-term...

Have you ever thought about running 401K? I know what you’re thinking—that’s almost 10 marathons! The good news is you can take a full career to cover the distance. And you’ll be in good company. About 60 million active participants and millions of former employees and retirees are in...

The onset and lingering effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic have created financial stresses throughout the US economy. Saving and investing are long-term goals, which can be disrupted by short-term financial storms. When household balance sheets shrink, some may be spurred to save...

US residents that invest in mutual funds. ICI survey data on the daily activities of bond mutual funds during March 2020 indicate that this assertion does is incorrect. Our survey data—by far and away the most detailed data brought to bear on this narrative—show that the Treasury...

Antitrust authorities are considering serious changes to the antitrust rules that, if enacted, would cause significant disruption and new costs for investors saving in mutual funds and other investment products. Yes, they’re startling. Their proposal presents not only a real threat to...

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, American households faced numerous disruptions and financial stress. In March 2020, policymakers acted to allow easier access to retirement accounts to help Americans impacted by COVID-19 through the difficult financial times...