MMFs in Retirement Plans $724 Billion
The Investment Company Institute published a brief entitled, "Retirement Assets Total $35.7 Trillion in Third Quarter 2023." It includes data tables showing that money market funds held in retirement accounts jumped to $724 billion (up from $685 billion) in the latest quarter, accounting for 13% of the total $5.681 trillion in money funds. MMFs represent just 6.7% of the total $10.881 trillion of mutual funds in retirement accounts. This release says, "Total US retirement assets were $35.7 trillion as of September 30, 2023, down 2.8 percent from June 30, 2023. Retirement assets accounted for 32 percent of all household financial assets in the United States at the end of September 2023. Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) totaled $12.6 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 3.0 percent from the end of the second quarter of 2023. Defined contribution (DC) plan assets were $9.9 trillion at the end of the third quarter, down 3.3 percent from June 30, 2023. Government defined benefit (DB) plans—including federal, state, and local government plans—held $8.0 trillion in assets as of the end of September 2023, a 1.6 percent decrease from the end of June 2023. Private-sector DB plans held $3.1 trillion in assets at the end of the third quarter of 2023, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.2 trillion." The ICI tables also show money funds accounting for $534 billion, or 10%, of the $5.400 trillion in IRA mutual fund assets and $190 billion, or 3%, of the $5.481 trillion in defined contribution plan holdings. (Money funds in 401k plans totaled $127 billion, or 3% of the $4.323 trillion of mutual funds in 401k's.)
