The most recent annual survey by the Investment Company Institute (“ICI”) shows mutual fund shareholders’ willingness to assume investment risk has not rebounded since the 2007/2008 financial crisis.

John Sabelhaus, ICI Senior Economist and survey co-author noted, “Nearly all mutual fund-owning households reported being focused on retirement saving and three-quarters of them reported that as their primary financial goal.”

Other survey findings include:

  • More than 51 million US households representing more than 90 million individual investors owned mutual funds.
  • 3.3 million households reported owning exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”).
  • Most US mutual fund owners had moderate household incomes and were in their peak earning and saving years. About 3 in 5 households owning mutual funds had incomes between $25,000 and $99,999. About two-thirds were headed by individuals between the ages of 35 and 64.
  • 86% of mutual fund-owning households held more than one fund.
  • Equity funds were the most commonly owned type of mutual fund.
  • 80% of mutual fund-owning households owned equity funds.
  • Employer-sponsored retirement plans are increasingly the gateway to mutual fund ownership. More than 7 in 10 mutual fund-owning households that purchased their first fund in 2005 or later purchased that fund through an employer-sponsored retirement plan as compared with 52% of those that made their first purchase before 1990.
  • 40% of mutual fund-owning households owned funds both inside and outside employer-sponsored retirement plans. An additional 28% owned mutual funds only inside employer-sponsored retirement plans.
  • Fund performance continues to have the most influence over investors’ opinions of the fund industry overall with two-thirds of mutual fund shareholders indicating that fund performance was a “very” important factor. Other important factors that influenced shareholder views included the opinion of professional financial advisers, personal experience with a mutual fund company and current events in financial markets.
  • Mutual fund companies’ favorability rating moves with stock market performance. Mutual funds’ favorability among shareholders rose in 2010 as the stock market trended upward with favorability rising to 67% (up from 64% in 2009).
  • Older mutual fund investors reported higher favorability ratings compared with younger investors and more recent investors.
  • 9 in 10 households owning mutual funds had internet access. Among that group 8 in 10 used the internet for financial purposes.

Survey results are based on a sample of 4,200 US households selected by random digit dialing of which 1,844 households (43.9%) owned mutual funds. Overall 44.5% of US households owned shares of mutual funds or other US-registered investment companies in 2010 representing an estimated 52.3 million US households and 91.4 million investors. All interviews were conducted over the telephone with the member of the household who was the sole or co-decision maker most knowledgeable about the household’s savings and investments.

The survey was released in two parts. To read complete results go here and here.