An Overview of the U.S. Regulated Fund Industry
The largest segment of the asset management business in the United States is registered investment companies (regulated funds). This article focuses on U.S. regulated investment companies—mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts. These funds manage more than $17 trillion of assets, largely on behalf of U.S. investors. The industry has experienced strong growth over the past quarter century from asset appreciation and strong demand from households due to rising household wealth, the aging of the U.S. population, and the evolution of employer-based retirement systems. Price competition and supply-side product innovations and efficiencies have reduced the average price that investors pay for fund services.
Money market funds
Published April 1981. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog
A Look at Private-Sector Retirement Plan Income after ERISA
Key Findings • Retirement income generated by private-sector retirement plans has become more prevalent not less prevalent — since the passage of ERISA in 1974, and this is true across all income groups. In 2009, 34 percent of retirees received private-sector retirement plan income — either directly or through a spouse — compared with 21 percent in 1975. Among retirees with private-sector retirement plan income, the median amount of income received per person in 2009 was $6,000, compared with about $4,500 in 2009 dollars in 1975. Further, the survey data used to analyze retiree income do not fully capture distributions from DC pension plans and IRAs, and thus likely underestimate the increase in retirement plan income since ERISA. • The share of workers with access to pension plans at their current employer has been substantial and fairly steady since 1979. While coverage has been consistent, an increasing share of private-sector workers has worked for employers that sponsor DC pension plans, and a decreasing share has worked for employers that sponsor DB pension plans. • The extent to which retirees have depended on private-sector retirement plans may be overstated by looking only at statistics on retirement plan coverage because coverage does not always result in retirement income. Although many retirees worked at employers that sponsored DB pension plans, the combination of vesting rules, the timing of benefit accrual, and labor mobility resulted in many retirees getting little or no retirement income from private-sector retirement plans. • In 1975, when nearly 90 percent of private-sector workers with retirement plans were covered by DB pension plans, only about one in five retirees received any income from private-sector retirement plans. Among retirees with private-sector retirement plan income in 1975, the median amount of annual income received per person was about $4,500 in 2009 dollars. • Social Security benefits consistently have been the largest component of retiree income and the predominant income source for lower-income retirees. In 2009, Social Security benefits were 58 percent of total retiree income and more than 85 percent of income for retirees in the lowest 40 percent of the income distribution. Even for retirees in the highest income quintile, Social Security benefits represented more than one-third of income in 2009. Over the past 35 years, the share of retiree income from Social Security has averaged 53 percent. • By supplementing Social Security, retirement plans play a complementary role in the U.S. retirement system. The formula used to calculate Social Security benefits ensures that Social Security replaces a much higher portion of earnings for workers with lower lifetime earnings. Not surprisingly, higher income retirees have typically gotten a lower portion of their income from Social Security benefits and have relied more on retirement plan income.