ASSETS OF PRIVATE NONINSURED PENSION FUNDS: FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1979 The assets of private noninsured pension funds totaled $218.0 billion at book value on September 30, 1979. Assets increased $5.6 billion during the latest quarter, or 2.7%; a year earlier asset growth was $5.9 billion, or 3.1%. Table Q-320 details quarterly book value and percentage distribution of assets of private noninsured pension funds for 1977 through the third quarter of 1979. During the first nine months of 1979, the book value of pension fund assets rose $15.8 billion, as compared to an increase of $14.5 billion one year earlier. The most dramatic year-to-year change occured in holdings of common stock. These holdings rose $7.7 billion during this period, in contrast to the $0.7 billion increase experienced a year earlier */; holdings of these securities nevertheless actually declined slightly as a percent of pension funds' assets during JanuarySeptember of 1979. Holdings of U.S. Government Securities rose $1.7 billion in this period as compared to a $0.3 billion decline experienced in 1978. Corporate and other debt increased $4.3 billion or 28% less than a year earlier, and holdings of "other assets" rose $1.2 billion or 71% less than in the similar 1978 period. Cash and deposits recorded a $0.6 billion increase, in contrast to a $3.7 billion increase during January-September 1978. * Common stock purchases and sales data for third quarter 1979 appear in the March issue of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Statistical Bulletin. NOTE: Includes deferred profit sharing and pension funds of corporations, unions, multiemployer groups and nonprofit organizations. STOCK TRANSACTIONS OF SELECTED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND FOREIGN Private noninsured pension funds, open-end investment companies, life insurance companies and property-liability insurance companies, combined, purchased $15.4 billion and sold $12.2 billion of common stock during the third quarter of 1979, resulting in net purchases of $3.2 billion. During the third quarter of 1978, their gross purchases were $15.4 billion; gross sales were $12.6 billion; and net purchases were $2.8 billion. Their common stock activity rate */ was 27.2% for the third quarter of 1979 as compared to 31.4% during the comparable period of 1978. Private Noninsured Pension Funds During the third quarter of 1979, private noninsured pension funds purchased $8.3 billion of common stock and sold $4.2 billion, yielding net purchases of $4.1 billion. A year earlier, private noninsured pension funds had gross purchases $7.8 billion, gross sales of $5.1 billion, and net purchases of $2.7 billion. Their common stock activity rate for the third quarter decreased from 24.4% in 1978 to 19.9% in 1979. Open-End Investment Companies Purchases of common stock by open-end investment companies during the third quarter decreased from $4.5 billion in 1978 to $3.7 billion in 1979; sales increased from $4.2 billion to $4.6 billion. Consequently, their activity resulted in net purchases of $0.2 billion in the third quarter of 1978 and net sales of $0.9 billion in the same quarter of 1979. Their common stock activity rate was 50.6%, down from 53.5% a year earlier. Life Insurance Companies Purchases of common stock by life insurance companies for their general accounts were $1.0 billion in the third quarter of 1979, the same as a year earlier. Sales decreased to $0.9 billion from $1.4 billion. As a result, net purchases were $0.1 billion in the third quarter of 1979, compared to net sales of $0.4 billion in the third quarter of 1978. The common stock activity rate was 25.8%, compared to 35.1% in the same period of 1978. * Activity rate is defined as the average of gross purchases and ف For their separate accounts, life insurance companies purchased $1.1 billion of common stock and sold $1.2 billion during the third quarter of 1979, resulting in net sales of $0.1 billion. These results compare with purchases of $0.9 billion and sales of $0.9 billion in the third quarter of 1978. The common stock activity rate for their separate accounts was 36.9%, up from 31.6% a year earlier. Property-Liability Insurance Companies Purchases of common stock by property-liability insurance companies totaled $1.3 billion during the third quarter of 1979, up slightly from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Third quarter sales increased 41% from $1.0 billion in 1978 to $1.4 billion in 1979. Net sales of $0.1 billion were recorded in this period as compared to net purchases of $0.3 billion a year earlier. Their common stock activity rate was 29.7%, nearly the same as the 29.8% rate in the comparable period of 1978. Foreign Investors Foreign investors purchasd $6.2 billion of corporate stock during the third quarter of 1979 and sold $6.0 billion, yielding a net accumulation of $0.2 billion. For the same period of 1978, their purchases were $6.1 billion; sales were $6.1 billion; and net purchases were $0.02 billion. Q-330 QUARTERLY COMMON STOCK TRANSACTIONS AND ACTIVITY RATES 1/ Includes deferred profit sharing and pension funds of corporations, unions, multiemoloyer groups and nonprofit organizations. 2/ 3/ Transactions of foreign individuals and institutions in domestic common and preferred stocks. Activity rates for foreign Note: Activity rate is defined as the average of gross purchases and sales (annualized) divided by the average market value of holdings. Source: |