Data & Research December 17, 2014

Little Change in Retirement Assets in Q3

ICI’s latest quarterly assessment shows retirement assets account for 36% of all household financial assets in the United States.
Reported by

Total U.S. retirement assets were $24.2 trillion as of September 30, 2014, about unchanged from the end of June, according to the Investment Company Institute’s (ICI) Q3 Retirement Update.

Defined contribution (DC) plan assets rose 0.7% in the third quarter to $6.6 trillion. As of September 30, $4.5 trillion was held in 401(k) plans, $928 billion in 403(b) plans, $258 billion in 457 plans, and $409 billion in the Federal Employees Retirement System’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Mutual funds managed $3.7 trillion, or 55%, of assets held in DC plans at the end of September.               

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Government defined benefit (DB) plans—including federal, state, and local government plans—held $5.1 trillion in assets as of the end of September, a 0.9% decrease from the end of June. Private-sector DB plans held $3.2 trillion in assets, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.0 trillion.

ICI data suggests unfunded liabilities are a larger issue for government DB plans than for private-sector DB plans. As of the end of the third quarter, unfunded liabilities were 2% of private-sector DB plan entitlements, 26% of state and local government DB plan entitlements, and 57% of federal DB plan entitlements. ICI explains that entitlements include both retirement assets and the unfunded liabilities of DB plans.

IRAs held $7.3 trillion in assets at the end of the third quarter, about unchanged from the end of the second quarter. Forty-eight percent of IRA assets, or $3.5 trillion, was invested in mutual funds.

Deals & People December 17, 2014

Acadian Asset Management Hires Strategist in Boston

Acadian Asset Management, an investment management firm specializing in active global and international equity strategies, has hired Seth Weingram to serve at its Boston headquarters.
Reported by

As senior vice president, strategist, Weingram will engage with clients, discussing Acadian’s views about market developments and current topics in quantitative investing. Additionally, he will help drive the company’s development of analytics and new investment products.

“Seth brings over 15 years of relevant experience to the Acadian team, including a rare combination of background in quantitative investing as well as options and volatility,” says Ross Dowd, executive vice president, global head of marketing and client service at Acadian. “His experience and relationships in these areas brings an exciting new dimension to our client servicing and marketing capabilities.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Weingram most recently served as managing director in equity trading at UBS, and has previously worked at Barclays Global Investors and Deutsche Bank. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University and earned his B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago.

«