Former Fidelity star touts fund at shoe store

Jeff Vinilk touting his fund at a shoe store

Can you imagine former Fidelity star manager Jeff Vinik being "reduced to touting his favorite technology stocks at a shopping center shoe store?" That's exactly what happened, according to The New York Times, when hundreds of people came to hear his outlook on the stock market and the economy back in 1995.

The story points out concerns about the future of the mutual fund industry including the aging bull market and the shift to do-it-yourself investing. 

As a result,  there were slow fund sales, reduced marketing efforts, and limited product development initiatives.

Incidentally, 1995 was the year I entered the financial services industry. And my partner Kathryn Morrison started in the mid 80's.

So how did the mutual fund industry actually do since 1995? Off the top of Kathryn's head, "Assets probably grew five times since then."

According to the 2011 Investment Company Fact Book:

• Assets under management in mutual funds: 1995: $2.8 trillion; 2010: $11.8 trillion, not counting ETF's and fund-of-funds.
• Number of mutual funds: 1995: 5,761; 2010: 8,545.
• Share of household financial assets held in mutual funds, ETF's, and closed-end funds: 1995: approximately 13%; 2010: 23%.
• Mutual fund percentage of retirement assets in DC plans: 1995: 24%; 2010: 54%.

Good guess, Kathryn.

How do you see the future of the mutual fund industry? Email me or leave comments.
by Dan Sondhelm