Investment Company Institute

The Investment Company Institute (ICI) is the national association of U.S. investment companies. ICI encourages adherence to high ethical standards, promotes public understanding of funds and investing, and advances the interests of investment funds and their shareholders, directors, and advisers.

As of November 2010, ICI membership included 7,559 mutual funds, 620 closed-end funds, 920 exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and three sponsors of unit investment trust (UITs). Members manage assets totaling $12.9 trillion and serve almost 90 million shareholders.

In the aftermath of stock market scandals in the 1920s and 1930s, ICI was established in 1940 in New York as the National Committee of Investment Companies. It became the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) in 1941. NAIC changed its name to the Investment Company Institute in 1961.

ICI membership is open to Securities and Exchange Commission-registered investment companies (mutual funds, closed-end funds, ETFs, and UITs), their investment advisers, and underwriters. The Institute advocates on behalf of its members with federal, state, and foreign regulators and legislatures.

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