As of December 31, 1961, there were 195 investment compa nies, which were members of The Investment Company Insti tute, and had total assets of approximately $25 billion. Some 170 were open-end companies with assets of approximately $23 billion, and 25 were closed-end companies, with assets of around $2 billion.

Net capital contributions in 1961 were approximately $1.8 billion. This net capital change represents the amount of new funds raised by investment companies, less the amount of their own securities, which they have repurchased.

Table 1 compares the size of investment companies with other important types of financial institutions or of savings.

The past twenty years have seen an extraordinary expansion in almost every type of savings and savings institution. Invest ment company assets are still small in relation to those of life insurance companies, and their year-to-year growth is not dwin dling. One difference between investment companies and other forms of savings is noteworthy. Changec in the dollar value of the other forms of savings are comparatively minor because of the nature of their assets, that is, a rise in the dollar amount of assets represents almost entirely added funds received from the insured, from depositors, or from bondholders. Common stock holdings predominate in the case of investment companies. Accordingly, changes in the dollar value of their assets do not necessarily correspond to changes in new funds contributed by shareholders. The biggest factor in the change in investment company assets may be fluctuations in the stock market. To illustrate, between the end of 1953 and 1954, net assets of open-end companies rose from about $4.1 billion to $6.1 billion, whereas the net amount of new funds raised through the sale of shares amounted to less than $500 million. Certified Financial Planner - Read More.