The 401k flow into institutional investors did not disappear. No new sink for the money appeared.<p>Limited supply of shares and financial products to buy and near infinite, constantly replenishing, demand for putting the money somewhere. Until the pensions get emptied (not happening for the next few decades) the trend can only be up.<p>Money need to go somewhere.<p>And yes, this means that it is nearly totally decoupled from "fundamentals". Same as with real estate and housing.<p>Unless we actively force this money into the economy and wreck pensions, university endowments and charities funds, there is no way out anytime soon. The Boomers need their money somewhere.<p>And yes. This is why productivity is down, every company has massive war chest and noone invest in fundamentals. The rise of the MBA is due to Boomers 401k, not to something fundamentally useful there.