401(K) ASSETS GROWING RAPIDLY; STOCK MARKET FUELS GROWTH.Byline: Tim Quinson Bloomberg News The assets of 401(k) retirement plans surpassed $1 trillion One thousand times one billion, which is 1, followed by 12 zeros, or 10 to the 12th power. See space/time. (mathematics) trillion - In Britain, France, and Germany, 10^18 or a million cubed. In the USA and Canada, 10^12. for the first time, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an industry consulting group. The plans' assets totaled almost $1.08 trillion at the end of March, up from $985 billion at the end of 1997 and $475 billion at the end of 1993, according to San Francisco-based Spectrum Group. The growth of the 401(k) business has been spurred by the surging U.S. equities market and the increasing popularity of the plans among companies that sponsor them. ``The increasing popularity of 401(k) plans among both employers and employees, coupled with strong performance in the stock market, have helped to more than double assets in these plans in the last five years,'' said Amy Errett, Spectrum's chairman and chief executive. Almost 270,000 companies offer 401(k) plans to more than 25 million American workers, Errett said. A 401(k) plan is a tax-deferred retirement plan that doesn't guarantee a fixed payment upon retirement like a traditional pension plan. More than 37 percent of the nation's 401(k) assets are invested in plans managed by mutual fund companies. That's more than double - on a percentage basis - what these companies were managing in 1990, according to Spectrum Group. Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments is a group of privately held companies in the financial services industry. It is made up by two independent but closely cooperating companies, Fidelity Management and Research Corporation (FMR Co. and Vanguard Vanguard Any of three unmanned U.S. experimental satellites. Vanguard I (1958), the second U.S. satellite placed in orbit around Earth (after Explorer 1), was a tiny 3.25-lb (1.47-kg) sphere with two radio transmitters. Group, America's two biggest fund companies, have been the most successful in terms of attracting money from retirement plans. The other leaders among fund groups are T. Rowe Price T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) is an independent global investment management firm and mutual fund manager based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price, Jr.. T. Associates Inc. and Putnam Investments Putnam Investments was founded in 1937 by George Putnam. At the same time, he founded its first mutual fund offering, The George Putnam Fund of Boston.[1] Putnam has offices in London and Tokyo, and its headquarters is located in Boston, Massachusetts. . The 401(k) market took off in the mid-1980s, when employees - rather than companies - were given control of their investment choices. Mutual funds are a good fit for these plans because they offer a broad investment choice to the average investor. Fund companies also are good at conveying information in a way the average investor can understand. |
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