---
title: Mutual Fund Decline in 401(k)s
url: https://www.ml-quant.com/papers/ssrn/4960502/
site: ML-Quant (https://www.ml-quant.com)
updated: 2026-09-26
license: Summaries CC BY 4.0; links go to the original sources
index: https://www.ml-quant.com/llms.txt
identifier: SSRN 4960502
source_url: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4960502
featured: 2025-12-01
citations: unknown
topic: Portfolio & Allocation
---


# Mutual Fund Decline in 401(k)s

This research highlights the rise of collective investment trusts in 401k plans due to their lower costs and tailored options for investors.

- Source: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4960502
- Identifier: SSRN 4960502
- Released: 2024-10-25
- First featured: Quant Letter No. 121 (2025-12-01): https://www.ml-quant.com/issues/2025-12-01/
- Citations (Semantic Scholar): not tracked
- Published in: not yet
- Topic: Portfolio & Allocation

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