By the Numbers: HSA growth

Transcript:

Hello, I’m George Moriarty and THIS is By The Numbers!

This week’s number is a $2.2 Billion

Fidelity Investments is on its way to dominating the health savings account business, according to Morningstar.

The amount of HSA assets held by the Boston-based investment manager have increased by 39% during the first six months of 2020, following growth of 57% during 2019, a Morning star report out in October found.

Fidelity has also taken in the most HSA assets this year, with a nearly $2.2 billion increase through June. The next-biggest HSA provider by asset growth was HealthEquity, at about $1.2 billion in asset growth year to date.

Concentration of assets among big players is increasing.

Since 2016, the four companies with the most HSA assets have grown to account for 56% of the market. The biggest firms are Optum, HealthEquity, HSA Bank and Fidelity.

Since 2016, Fidelity’s market share more than doubled, going from less than 5% to more than 10%, according to the report. During that time, HealthEquity grew its market share from about 12% to 16%.

Fidelity’s HSA received top marks as both a spending and investing vehicle – the only one to score well in both categories. The company’s all-in investment fee is 2 basis points across all account sizes, which makes it highly competitive for people who want to use their accounts to invest, the report noted.

As of the end of June, there were more than 29 million HSA accounts, according to Devenir.  The average new account balance has fallen from $11,600 in 2005 to this year’s $1,260.

That’s all for this week. I’m George Moriarty, and from my home office to yours, stay safe and we’ll see you next week.