* Is middle-aged, married and college-educated;

* Invests in mutual funds through employer-sponsored retirement plans;

* Is employed and of moderate financial means;

* Has $25,000 invested in mutual funds;

* Understands the key elements of investing in a mutual fund; and

* Has long-term mutual fund goals.

"This study indicates that mutual funds continue to serve investors from all walks of life who are saving for retirement and other long-term financial goals," Institute President Matthew P. Fink said. "Mutual funds are affordable investments that provide significant value to millions of Americans."

Highlights of the report include:

* Most shareholders invest in funds for retirement, are willing to take at least moderate risk for moderate gain, and are not focused on short-term market fluctuations.

* Seventy-seven percent of all household owners hold mutual funds in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Half view the workplace as their primary purchase channel for mutual funds.

* The median age of the primary financial decision-maker in the household of typical mutual fund shareholders is 44 years. Nearly 70 percent are married, 50 percent have a four-year college degree or more.

* The typical shareholder has invested $25,000 in mutual funds, which represents nearly one-third of the shareholder's household assets. Seven out of eight households include equity funds among their holdings. Eighty-two percent of mutual fund shareholders are employed full- or part-time. In married households, the spouse also tends to work. Median household income is $55,000 and median household financial assets are $80,000.

* Half of all household owners made their first mutual fund purchase before 1990 and more than one-third did so between 1990 and 1995. 

* Investment decision-making is shared in 54 percent of fund-owning households. Males make the investment decisions in 24 percent of fund-owning households, females in 22 percent.

* Twenty-two percent of mutual fund shareholders were born in 1965 or later, making them members of Generation X. Members of the Baby Boom Generation, born between 1946 and 1964, make up the greatest percentage of mutual fund shareholders at 51 percent. Twenty-seven percent of fund shareholders are members of the so-called Silent Generation, born before 1946.

* Thirty-one percent of mutual fund shareholders reside in the Midwest; 30 percent in the South; 21 percent in the West; and 18 percent in the Northeast.

The survey contacted more than 1,400 financial decision-makers to determine demographic, financial and fund ownership characteristics of mutual fund shareholders nationwide. The survey also examined patterns of fund ownership through employer-sponsored retirement plans and outside of those plans.

The Investment Company Institute is the national association of the investment company industry. Its members include mutual funds, closed-end funds and unit investment trusts.

NOTE: The complete study is available on the Institute's public website at: http://www.ici.org/pdf/rpt_profile99.pdf

Shareholder characteristics: