ICI Viewpoints Content

A recent New York Times editorial misrepresents the behavior of 401(k) investors to present an inaccurate portrayal of the risks that Americans face in preparing for retirement. The editorial’s implicit assumption that all 401(k) balances are fully invested in stocks is wrong...

All eyes were on the markets in early August just after Standard & Poor’s Corp. downgraded the long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to AA+ from AAA and as Europe’s ongoing fiscal challenges dominated the news.

David F. Swensen is the chief investment officer of Yale University and a noted author of investment advice for the public. In books and articles over the last decade, he’s focused much of his attention on mutual funds. Yet he consistently ignores or is unaware of basic facts about...

Last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rule on proxy access. The unanimous ruling marked the fifth time since 2005 that the DC Circuit has struck down an SEC rule, and the third decision...

On Friday, August 5, Standard & Poor’s Corp. downgraded the long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to AA+ from AAA. The agency reaffirmed the U.S. government’s A-1+ short-term rating, which is the rating that money market funds rely upon in making their...

Despite widespread opposition from dozens of business, municipal, and investors groups, regulators continue to ponder the question of whether money market funds should be required to abandon the stable $1.00 net asset value (NAV) in favor of a floating NAV.

Data on money market funds flows continue to draw attention, especially with today’s report that net outflows totaled $66 billion in the week ending August 3.

ICI sees strong evidence that the features of 401(k) plans help Americans avoid overreaction to financial turmoil, by countering extremes in investor behavior that hard times often produce. This was one of the key points that I made recently at the Ayco Summer InnerCircle Benefits and...

The continuing impasse over the U.S. government’s borrowing limit—the “debt ceiling”—and efforts to rein in the growth of federal debt has raised many questions for investors in all types of financial assets. ICI believes that money market funds are no more vulnerable to these events...

Statistics on money market funds inflows and outflows are currently a hot topic in the financial world, so it’s a good time to dig into the data and see if we can help explain the latest trends.