Total U.S. retirement assets were $23 trillion as of ended Dec. 31, up 5% from three months earlier, according to the Investment Company Institute, which publishes quarterly retirement asset data.
Defined contribution assets totaled $5.9 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, up 5.1% from the end of the third quarter. Of the DC assets, $4.2 trillion was held in 401(k) plans, up 5% from three months earlier, according to a news release from ICI.
Government pension funds — including federal, state and local government plans — held $5.6 trillion in assets as of the end of December, a 5.6% increase from the end of September. Corporate defined benefit plans held $3 trillion in assets at the end of the fourth quarter, up 3.2% from the end of the third quarter.
Assets in individual retirement accounts totaled $6.5 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2013, an increase of 5.3% from the end of the previous quarter. Of all IRA assets, $3 trillion, or 45%, was invested in mutual funds.
Mutual funds managed $3.5 trillion, or 60%, of assets held in DC plans at the end of December.
Target-date mutual fund assets totaled $618 billion as of Dec. 31, an increase of 7.9% from three months earlier. Of all target-date mutual fund assets, 90% were held through DC plans and IRAs.
