Target-date mutual fund assets rose 3.5% in the first quarter, according to a new report, which also notes that the bulk of those TDF fund assets were held through DC plans.
The report, by the Investment Company Institute, found that as of March 31, 2016, target-date mutual fund assets totaled $790 billion, and that 88% of those target-date mutual fund assets were held through DC plans (68% of the total) and IRAs (21%).
Retirement Assets Up
Total U.S. retirement assets were $24.1 trillion as of March 31, 2016, up 0.6% from the end of December. Retirement assets accounted for a third (34%) of all household financial assets in the United States at the end of the first quarter of 2016.
DC plan assets rose 1.7% in the first quarter of 2016 to $6.8 trillion, while assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) totaled $7.4 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2016, an increase of 1.0% from the previous quarter.
Government DB plans — including federal, state and local government plans — held $5.1 trillion in assets as of the end of March, a 0.8% decrease from the end of December. Private-sector DB plans held $2.8 trillion in assets at the end of the first quarter of 2016, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.0 trillion.
Americans held $6.8 trillion in all employer-based DC retirement plans on March 31, 2016, of which $4.8 trillion was held in 401(k) plans.
In addition to 401(k) plans, at the end of the first quarter:
- $517 billion was held in other private-sector DC plans;
- $876 billion in 403(b) plans;
- $267 billion in 457 plans; and
- $434 billion in the Federal Employees Retirement System’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).
Mutual funds managed $3.7 trillion, or 54%, of assets held in DC plans at the end of March 2016. With $2.2 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds, followed by $915 billion in hybrid funds, which include target date funds.
You can find charts/graphs outlining these trends here.
