Fido's Magellan Most Popular in Retirement Plans

June 17, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fidelity's flagship Magellan Fund, which is the second largest US fund, is the most popular choice among retirement plan participants, according to a study.

Roughly 65% of Magellan’s total asset base, $52 billion, flowed in through company retirement programs, according to a Financial Research Corporation survey of defined contribution plans for 2001.

With nearly $30 billion more in defined contribution assets than its nearest competitor, Magellan commands a 6.3% share of fund assets in such plans, down from 8% in 1999.

With $287 billion in DC assets, Fidelity Investments is the industry leader in the segment.
 
Seven of the top ten retirement funds in terms of assets are from the Fidelity lineup. In each instance, over half of portfolio assets resulted from DC relationships, ranging from 51% in Blue Chip Growth to a whopping 85% in Spartan US Equity Index.

Vanguard Power Player

Vanguard 500, the nation’s largest mutual fund, was the second best seller among DC plans, pulling in $23 billion in employee retirement assets, or 26% of the fund’s total assets.

Vanguard 500 holds a 2.8% market share among mutual funds most used by DC plans, off from 3.1% at the close of 1999, according to FRC.

The Los Angeles-based American Funds are also prominent players in the DC business.

Nearly a quarter of assets in American’s Washington Mutual, some $12 billion, were derived from company retirement plans. Growth Fund of America also raked in $12 billion in DC dollars, nearly a third of that fund’s assets.

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