Banks have long been the dominant financialintermediary, but Mr Hale predicts that the mutual-fund industry is growing so rapidly that its assets could exceed those of America's banking sector before the end of this year.
Such has been the scale of inflows that by the end of this year (if it continues) the total assets of mutual funds are likely to overtake those of banks, which have been the dominant financialintermediary for the past two centuries.