Mutual funds are affordable investments that provide significant value to millions of Americans. Sixty-two percent of these households own mutual funds in their defined contribution plans.
Half view the workplace as their primary purchase channel for mutual funds.
The median age of the primary financial decisionmaker in the household of typical mutual fund shareholders is 44 years. Seven out of eight households include equity funds among their holdings. In married households, the spouse also tends to work. Half of all household owners made their first mutual fund purchase before 1990 and more than one-third did so between 1990 and 1995. Investment decisionmaking is shared in 54 percent of fund-owning households.