Meet with PWL Capital: https://pages.pwlcapital.com/en-ca/contact-us?utm_source=content&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=rationalreminder_yt Avoid Online Scams https://pwlcapital.com/stay-safe-online/ Ben Felix or any PWL employee will never reach out to you on social media platforms or WhatsApp to give financial advice. These are scammers trying to commit fraud. In this episode, we are joined by Shelly Antoniewicz, Chief Economist at the Investment Company Institute (ICI), for a data-rich exploration of the modern fund industry. Shelly walks us through the staggering scale of global regulated funds, how ETFs and mutual funds shape capital allocation, and why the rise of indexing may not be as disruptive as critics fear. We discuss the growth of ETFs versus mutual funds, increasing concentration among large fund sponsors, and how financial advisors are reshaping portfolios around low-cost investment products. Shelly also explains why fund fees keep falling, how 401(k) plans have democratized investing for middle-class households, and why investor choice remains central to healthy capital markets. Along the way, we unpack active ETFs, intraday liquidity, interval funds, private credit exposure, and the evolving role of retail investors in financial markets. Paper From Today's Episode: https://www.ici.org/system/files/2026-04/2026-factbook.pdf Timestamps: 0:00:00 Intro 0:03:53 The proportion of the global financial markets held by regulated funds 0:05:15 The number of funds in the U.S. market 0:06:16 The proportion of total fund assets that is in equity funds 0:07:34 How the share of the market in index funds has changed over time 0:08:30 The proportion of the overall U.S. stock market that is held by index funds 0:10:55 The effect rising index fund ownership has on financial markets 0:14:40 The number of fund sponsors in the U.S. market 0:15:23 The proportion of fund complexes actually taking in new money each year 0:17:18 How concentration among the largest fund sponsors has evolved over time 0:18:06 Why assets are concentrating in the largest fund complexes 0:19:39 How concerned investors should be about rising fund complex concentration 0:21:54 How mutual fund flows tend to respond to market returns 0:24:27 How this compares with ETF trading activity 0:25:30 The importance of intraday liquidity to ETF investors 0:26:29 Whether this supports John Bogle’s concern about ETFs being vehicles for active trading 0:30:50 How significant the flows out of traditional actively managed mutual funds have been over the last decade 0:31:35 Where the dollars have gone 0:35:42 Why so many new ETFs were created in 2025 relative to past years 0:41:01 The proportion of U.S. households that owns investment funds 0:42:02 The effect regulated funds like ETFs and mutual funds had on financial market participation 0:43:48 The importance of employer sponsored retirement plans to fund ownership and financial market participation 0:46:24 What the “typical” mutual fund owning household in the U.S. looks like 0:47:22 How that differs from the typical ETF-owning household 0:48:17 How the split between ETF and mutual fund assets has evolved over time 0:49:11 What is driving the growth of ETFs 0:49:47 What the typical risk tolerance of households that invest in funds is 0:51:07 How risk tolerance varies over time, and across household characteristics 0:53:02 What is driving fees down 0:54:44 What has driven the growth in interval funds and BDCs 0:56:43 The risk of private assets being held in semi-liquid funds targeted at retail investors 1:00:41 The observation from the Investment Company Factbook that has surprised Shelly the most over the years 1:03:02 Shelly defines success in her life 1:03:26 Disclaimer Links From Today’s Episode: Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/