Office address: 333 S. Hope Street, 53rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Website: capitalgroup.com
Year established: 1931 Company type: financial services
Employees: N/A Expertise: mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, equity management, fixed income management, retirement planning, 529 college savings plans, variable annuities, portfolio construction, target-date funds, risk management solutions
Parent company: Capital Group
Key people: Mike Gitlin (CEO), Martin Romo (chief investment officer), Jody Jonsson (vice chair), Canise Arredondo (CFO), Rob Klausner (COO), Greg Miliotes and Noriko Honda Chen (portfolio managers)
Financing status: privately held corporation
American Funds operates in Los Angeles as Capital Group's mutual fund division. The firm offers mutual funds, ETFs, target date funds, 529 college savings plans, and variable annuities. Products are also available through financial advisors and major brokerage platforms.
American Funds began as the mutual fund division under Capital Group's umbrella structure. Jonathan Bell Lovelace founded Capital Group in Los Angeles during the Great Depression in 1931.
The parent organization opened a New York office in 1943 but relocated headquarters back to Los Angeles. It also introduced the Capital System in 1958 as a fresh portfolio management approach.
American Funds expanded internationally starting in 1962 to reach major financial centers globally. Service centers specifically for American Funds shareholders operated in California starting in 1983.
American Funds' Growth Fund of America, launched in 1973, became a flagship offering. The division also entered the ETF market in 2022 with actively managed fund products.
In 2023, the division launched 12 model portfolios combining active mutual funds with passive ETFs from Schwab, Vanguard, and BlackRock. This move showed the firm's commitment to modernizing offerings for financial advisors and investors. The new portfolios became available through Fidelity, Envestnet, and Orion platforms shortly after.
American Funds offers investment products managed through in-house research and multi-manager accountability. The division serves individual and institutional investors with long-term focused strategies:
The firm's range of products spans multiple asset classes and investor goals across life stages. The division's in-house research and multi-manager approach ensures consistent quality across all offerings.
As a division of Capital Group, American Funds operates within the parent organization's values and culture. The parent company aims to foster a collaborative workplace where diverse perspectives drive better investment outcomes.
Diversity and inclusion remain central to American Funds' operations. Since Capital Group prioritizes diverse perspectives and inclusive teams, the firm also works to increase women and underrepresented minorities in leadership positions.
American Funds also integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into its investment approach. The organization remains committed to promoting sustainability and expanding access to financial services globally.
Mike Gitlin serves as president and CEO of Capital Group, American Funds' parent organization. Gitlin joined Capital Group after leading fixed income operations at T. Rowe Price. He holds a degree from Colgate University and has over 31 years of investment experience.
Key people are made up of leaders from the management committee:
The leadership team from Capital Group provides strategic oversight across global operations, including American Funds. Most committee members bring deep expertise from lengthy careers within the organization.
American Funds' parent organization Capital Group expanded its RecordkeeperDirect retirement plan platform to serve small and mid-sized businesses. American Funds integration into the platform allows advisors to offer clients more investment flexibility options. The updates position the division to capture growing retirement plan opportunities as advisors embrace customizable solutions for business owners.
The division is also a key mutual fund provider for advisors using direct-to-fund business models with firms like LPL Financial. In 2025, a new five basis point fee that LPL introduced will increase costs for advisors holding American Funds directly. This fee may push advisors toward advisory platforms, potentially affecting American Funds' access to LPL's large advisor network.
The products had net inflows of $23.9 billion, a significant increase from the $6.7 billion in outflows seen in 2020, according to a report from Morningstar.
Model portfolios, which have exploded in popularity in recent years, are ridden with conflicts of interest, a trio of academics argues.
Traditional fund complexes are succumbing to the pressure to offer ETFs alongside more expensive mutual funds.
Last week’s announced purchase of Newport Group by Ascensus comes on the heels of Empower’s purchases of MassMutual’s and Prudential’s record-keeping divisions.
A year after joining forces to create active-passive models for Merrill Lynch, the asset management heavyweights take their models to Morgan Stanley.
The product, which will be offered in defined-contribution plans, is engineered to deliver 6% income at retirement.
There are more than 40 national record keepers, with plenty of capacity for all. And some providers are uniquely positioned.
Executives at the 90-year-old asset manager have high hopes for building out Capital Group as a global ETF brand, with designs on a $500 billion business.
ETFs expected to make up a growing share of investor portfolios in the year ahead, according to Charles Schwab & Co.’s ETF Investor Study.
The changes, which take effect May 1, mark the second time in a year that the company has significantly altered its insurance-series funds to make them match their better-known retail counterparts.
Managed accounts offer DCIOs the opportunity to be a more active and important part of the DC ecosystem. It moves them from being dependent on record keepers, advisers and plan sponsors to create the strategy to help participants, to being an advice provider of customized investment solutions.
The forthcoming plans present challenges and opportunities, record keepers say
Managers made several changes following the 2008 crisis, including reducing allocations to high-yield bonds and equities
Vanguard still accounts for 37% of the market for target-date funds, Morningstar data show
Its new guaranteed-income annuity is the first to invest solely in target-date funds
