Table 7
Stock Ownership among Whites and Nonwhites, 1992 and 1995
Security Held and Year
(percent of households owning)
Race or
Retirement
DC Retirement
Ethnicity of
Stocks
Mutual Funds
Accounts
Head of Household
1992
1995 Change
1992
1995 Change
1992
1995
Change
White non-Hispanic
20
18
-11%
13
15
14%
43
47
9%
Nonwhite or Hispanic
6
6
-13%
3
4
3%
22
29
35%
Source: Federal Reserve Bulletin, Vol. 83, No. 1, January 1997.
finance a comfortable retirement: 66
performance compared to an index, 59 per-
percent.
cent; price per share, 59 percent; fund man-
ager's investment style, 59 percent; minimum
By 1997, PSCA found that 93 percent of
investment, 58 percent; total assets, 57 per-
401(k) companies offered investment educa-
cent; manager's tenure with fund, 51 percent;
tion materials to their employees.
portfolio turnover rate, 46 percent; fund
manager's background, 45 percent; 800 cus-
Active Postpurchase Behavior
tomer phone, 42 percent; 24-hr/day access,
Most investors monitor their stocks care-
30 percent.
fully, using a wide variety of materials. A 1997
In their first forays into capital markets,
survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Research
workers relied on employer-provided materi-
Associates for the Nasdaq stock market asked
als, some mandated by law. Based on its 1996
1,214 investors how often they checked the
Retirement Confidence Survey, EBRI report-
prices of their stock or mutual fund shares.
ed that employers of 71 percent of DC plan
The results: 51 percent of respondents
workers provided educational materials or
checked their investments once a week or
seminars for plan members. Given the oppor-
more, 75 percent at least once a month.
tunity, 81 percent of participants used the
Eighteen percent checked "every day."
materials. The users identified the informa-
In 1996, ICI asked fund shareholders
tion they obtained:
about the types of information they moni-
tor.4 1 The information they tracked, by the
1. "A description of the investment options
available in the plan": 98 percent;
percentage who tracked it, included: total
2. "The advantages of saving in tax-
dollar value of an account, 90 percent; yield
deferred plans": 96 percent;
or rate of return, 80 percent; price per share
3. "The effect of compounding over
of a fund, 78 percent; economic or market
time": 83 percent;
conditions, 61 percent; fees and charges of
4. "The principles of risk and return": 81
the fund, 46 percent; and changes in the fund
percent;
manager, 24 percent.
5. "The principles of asset allocation and
ICI found that fund owners typically used
diversification": 77 percent; and
three information sources to monitor their
6. The amount of saving needed to
investments. The major sources are as fol-
14