ICI Viewpoints Content

Friends and colleagues sometimes ask me, “What keeps you awake at night?” In recent months, it’s the nightmarish level of debt that the federal government is accruing. Put all politics aside: it is impossible to deny that Americans face an acute problem of budgetary overreach. Even...

The New York Times recently published an article examining investor behavior in the context of an old debate: actively managed funds versus passive funds (such as index funds). When reading stories like this, it is important to keep a couple of key points in mind.

Even though our industry was not a direct target of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, funds face challenges in coping with the law’s implementation. At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Fifth Annual Capital Markets Summit yesterday, I had a chance to discuss...

The U.S. financial system is emerging from the global crisis. Financial markets have regained their footing. The Federal Reserve has significantly reduced its emergency facilities. The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted its amendments to Rule 2a-7 for money market funds.

Most workers who are likely to have the ability to save and to be focused primarily on saving for retirement have access to employer-provided retirement plans, according to research we just released.

Mutual fund investors in 2010 paid lower average expense ratios in stock funds, but bond fund expense ratios remained unchanged, according to an annual research report on fund fees and expenses that we released today.

Recent stories in the press have addressed the issue of securities lending, particularly in the context of 401(k) plans. For example, a March 16 story in the Wall Street Journal (“Disclosure Sought on Fund Lending”) suggests that securities lending’ in 401(k) plans “prevented some...

Total closed-end fund assets were $241 billion at year-end 2010, up 7 percent from year-end 2009, according to our recently released annual research report on the closed-end fund market. On net, closed-end fund assets increased by $16 billion during 2010.

Since 1959, ICI’s General Membership Meeting has provided fund industry executives an exceptional forum to discuss key business issues, gain a deep understanding of the policy landscape, and network with colleagues from around the country and overseas.

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously in favor of a proposal that would eliminate credit ratings as a required element in determining which securities are permissible investments for money market funds.