Another record high. Investment Company Institute reports that total U.S. retirement assets were $26.6 trillion as of June 30, up 1.9 percent from March, accounting for 34 percent of all household financial assets in the U.S.
IRA assets totaled $8.4 trillion, an increase of 2.3 percent, and defined contribution plan assets rose 2.2 percent to $7.5 trillion.
Government defined benefit plans held $5.7 trillion in assets, a 1.5 percent increase from the end of March.
Private-sector DB plans held $3 trillion in assets at the end of the second quarter, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts were $2.1 trillion.
Defined Contribution Plans
Specific to defined contribution plans, Americans held $7.5 trillion in all employer-based DC retirement, of which $5.1 trillion was held in 401k plans.
In addition to 401k plans, at the end of the second quarter, $575 billion was held in other private-sector DC plans, $949 billion in 403b plans, $297 billion in 457 plans, and $526 billion in the Federal Employees Retirement System’s Thrift Savings Plan.
Mutual funds managed $3.3 trillion, or 65 percent, of assets held in 401k plans.
With nearly $2 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in 401k plans, followed by $918 billion in hybrid funds, which include target date funds.
Individual Retirement Accounts
IRAs held $8.4 trillion in assets at the end of the second quarter. Forty-eight percent of IRA assets, or $4 trillion, was invested in mutual funds.
With $2.2 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in IRAs, followed by $884 billion in hybrid funds.
Target Date Funds
Target date mutual fund assets grew 4.8 percent in the second quarter, topping $1 trillion at the end of June. Retirement accounts held the bulk of target date mutual fund assets. Eighty-seven percent of these assets were held through DC plans (67 percent) and IRAs (20 percent).
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
