According to a joint study released in December by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute, 72% of 401(k) plans offered target-date funds in their investment lineup at year-end 2011, compared with 70% at year-end 2010 and 57% at year-end 2006.
However, the adoption rate among participants has moved at a slower pace. At year-end 2011, only 13% of the assets in the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database were invested in target-date funds, up from 11% in 2010 and 5% in 2006. In addition, 39% of 401(k) participants held target date funds at year-end 2011, compared with 36% in 2010 and 19% in 2006.
