U.S. retirement assets at $13.4 trillion in Q1

Total U.S. retirement assets were $13.4 trillion as of March 31, down 5% from the end of the 2008 and 26% below the all-time high of $18.2 trillion in the third quarter of 2007, according to an Investment Company Institute report. Individual retirement accounts held $3.4 trillion, ICI reported in its report, “The U.S. Retirement Market, First Quarter 2009." Assets in corporate pension plans totaled $1.8 trillion as of March 31, down 10% from Dec. 31, while assets in defined contribution plans were $3.4 trillion, down 3%, according to ICI. State and local pension plans had a combined $2.3 trillion, down 4.2%, while assets in federal retirement plans and annuities were $1.2 trillion and $1.4 trillion, respectively, both unchanged from the end of the previous quarter. (Rounding accounts for the breakouts exceeding the total, according to ICI.) The ICI report estimated total assets of $3.4 trillion in IRAs as of March 31, down 5.6% from the end of the previous quarter. “Declines in financial markets have lead to declines across all types of retirement plans,” said ICI, in the report. -- Doug Halonen is a reporter at sister publication Pensions & Investments.