Posted August 11, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – US retirement assets fell 4.4 percent during the first quarter of 2009, from $14.1 trillion to $13.4 trillion, according to a report by the Investment Company Institute (ICI).
The report covers assets in private-sector defined benefit plans, government pension plans, defined contribution plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, annuities and individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
During the first quarter, total equities return was negative 11 percent, with bonds returning 0.2 percent, according to the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index and the Citigroup Broad Investment Grade Bond Index.
At the end of the first quarter, IRAs held $3.4 trillion in retirement market assets, with another $3.4 trillion being held in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans, of which $2.3 trillion was held in 401(k) plans. IRAs invested 44 percent of assets in mutual funds, as did 45 percent of defined contribution plan assets.
Lifecycle or target data mutual funds also dropped, falling to $159 billion at the end of the first quarter from $164 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008. Almost 90 percent of assets in lifecycle mutual funds were held in retirement accounts.