The Markets
Average Equity Investor Earns Double-Digit Returns in 2006
In 2006, the average equity fund investor earned 16.4% and money market mutual fund yields rose to 5%, as diversification away from the U.S. and into International funds aided in asset growth, according to a Strategic Insights analysis.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
The asset-weighted average total return for different asset classes for the one-year period as of December 2006 was:
- Domestic equity – 14.1%,
- International equity – 24.2%,
- Taxable bond – 5.4%, and
- Tax-free bond – 5.1%.
By year-end 2006, according to Strategic Insights, assets held in all types of U.S. registered mutual funds had eclipsed $11 trillion, including:
- traditional open-end funds – $9.3 trillion;
- VA underlying funds – $1.3 trillion;
- ETFs structured as mutual funds – $309 billion, plus additional assets in ETFs structured as UIT ETFs and ETF-like non-RIC exchange-traded vehicles; and
- closed-end mutual funds – nearly $300 billion.