American Century Investments Review 2026: AUM, Fees, Withdrawals & Is It Safe?

Thinking about American Century Investments and wondering if it’s actually worth your money? That’s the right question to ask before you invest, not after. This Kansas City-based asset manager oversees roughly $325 billion in assets as of its 2026 investment outlook, offering mutual funds, ETFs, and retirement accounts to everyday investors. Here’s what it actually costs, how safe it really is, how withdrawals work, and who it fits best, no jargon, no sales pitch.

Quick Verdict: Is American Century Investments Worth It?

Best for:

• Long-term investors who want professional fund management
• Retirement savers using IRAs or target-date funds
• Investors who value mission-aligned firms

Not ideal for:

• Short-term traders
• Investors wanting a fully passive, app-first robo-advisor experience
• Anyone starting with less than $2,500

It’s a legitimate, well-regulated firm, but the real cost depends on how you access it. Direct mutual fund accounts carry maintenance fees that ETFs simply avoid.

What Is American Century Investments?

American Century Investments is a privately held U.S. asset management firm managing mutual funds, ETFs, and retirement accounts for both individual and institutional investors. Rather than picking and managing your own investments, you hand that work over to their professional fund managers.

Here’s the background in brief:

• Founded in 1958 by James E. Stowers Jr., originally as “Twentieth Century Mutual Funds”
• Headquarters: American Century Towers, Kansas City, Missouri
• Additional offices: New York, London, Hong Kong, Sydney

Who Owns American Century Investments?

Ownership here is genuinely unusual, and it’s one of the more interesting things about this firm. According to Morningstar’s 2026 analysis, three parties hold the company:

The Stowers Institute is a non-profit dedicated to biomedical research, and it’s received more than $2 billion in dividend payments from American Century since 2000, according to the company’s own December 2025 announcement. In plain terms, a meaningful chunk of this firm’s profits has gone toward funding medical research instead of lining shareholders’ pockets. Not many asset managers can say that.

Is American Century Investments Legit and Safe?

Yes, it’s a legitimate, regulated financial firm. A few facts that back this up:

• Brokerage services run through American Century Brokerage, a registered broker-dealer.
• The firm is a member of both FINRA and SIPC.
• Brokerage accounts carry SIPC protection of up to $500,000 total, including $250,000 for cash claims.
• Coverage beyond SIPC limits comes from underwriters in the Lloyd’s insurance market and other commercial insurers.

There’s an important distinction worth making here, one that a lot of reviews skip over:

1. Company safety: do the SEC and FINRA properly regulate the firm, and does it stand on solid financial footing? Yes, on both counts.
2. Investment risk: Can the funds you buy lose value? Also, yes, just like any market investment.

SIPC protects you if the brokerage firm itself fails. It does nothing to protect you from ordinary market losses. Two very different kinds of risk, and it pays to know which one you’re actually worried about.

American Century Investments AUM and Scale

• Total AUM: More than $325 billion, per the company’s Q2 2026 investment outlook
• Avantis Investors (its factor-based investing arm, launched in 2019): crossed $100 billion in AUM on December 9, 2025
• Together, American Century and Avantis now sit among the top five active ETF issuers by AUM, based on Morningstar data covering 321 active ETF issuers as of mid-2025

Size isn’t a guarantee of good performance. But it does tell you something real: hundreds of billions of dollars from actual investors and institutions currently sit with this firm, and it has the infrastructure to handle that scale.

What Products Does American Century Offer?

Mutual Funds

This is where American Century started, and it’s still their largest offering, actively managed funds spanning equity, bond, and balanced categories. A solid fit if you want a professional making the day-to-day calls instead of you.

ETFs, Including Avantis

American Century and Avantis ETFs trade commission-free through American Century Brokerage. Avantis takes a systematic, factor-based approach, targeting specific traits such as value or profitability rather than trying to outguess the market through pure stock picking.

Retirement and Target-Date Options

Target-date funds shift automatically from growth-focused to more conservative holdings as your chosen retirement year approaches. That means you’re not stuck manually rebalancing your own risk level every year.

American Century Investments Fees and Costs

How much you pay depends heavily on whether you hold your investment directly with the fund company or through a brokerage platform. That distinction trips up a lot of new investors.

Account Minimums

• Mutual fund account: $2,500 to start (or just $500 if you set up an automatic investment plan of at least $100/month)
• Subsequent investments: $50 minimum

Account Maintenance Fees

• Direct mutual fund accounts under $10,000: a $25 semiannual fee, deducted each November.
  • This doesn’t apply to business retirement accounts or to non-resident aliens without a U.S. Social Security number.
• American Century Brokerage: a separate $50 annual custodial fee, waived once your balance passes $10,000 or if you qualify for a Priority Investor tier (Silver, Gold, Platinum)

Trading and Transaction Fees

• American Century and Avantis ETFs trade commission-free
• American Century mutual funds carry no separate transaction fee when bought directly.
• Other securities and services follow their own separate fee schedule.

If you’re investing a smaller amount and want to sidestep maintenance fees altogether, ETFs through the brokerage platform are usually the more cost-efficient option compared to a direct mutual fund account with less than $10,000.

Withdrawal Process

How to Withdraw Money

1. Log in to your American Century account online.
2. Select the fund or brokerage holding you want to redeem
3. Submit a redemption request, specifying the amount or number of shares.
4. Funds are credited to your linked bank account once the trade settles.

What to Watch For

• If your balance drops below the fund’s minimum, American Century gives you a 90-day window to restore it or reinstate your auto-invest plan before the account is automatically redeemed.
• Maintenance fee eligibility gets reviewed on set dates (the last business day of March and September for direct accounts), so the timing of a withdrawal can actually affect whether a fee applies.

Who Is American Century Investments Best For?

• Long-term investors who’d rather have professional fund management than pick individual stocks themselves
• Retirement savers using IRAs or target-date funds
• ETF investors drawn to low-cost, factor-based strategies through Avantis
• Anyone who values a mission-driven firm, given the Stowers Institute’s research funding

If you’re new to investing and want a broader primer before committing, our beginner’s guide to smart stock investing is a good place to start.

Who Should Avoid It?

• Short-term traders: these fund structures are built for holding periods measured in years, not days
• Very low-balance investors: direct accounts under $10,000 can lose real value to maintenance fees over time
• App-first robo-advisor seekers: the platform works fine, but it’s not built around a modern, fully automated investing experience

Pros and Cons

American Century Investments vs Alternatives

Against large index-fund giants, American Century leans more on active and factor-based management, especially through Avantis, rather than pure passive indexing. Against newer robo-advisor platforms, it wins on product variety and operating history, but loses some ground on a streamlined, mobile-first experience.

Which one fits you really comes down to a simple trade-off: active management expertise and mission-driven ownership, or the lowest possible fees and the simplest app. If you’re weighing this against other investing resources and platforms, our invest1now.com review covers a different approach worth comparing.

Company Reputation and Reviews

Morningstar rates American Century’s overall Parent Pillar as Average, noting the firm “has advanced its long-term position” with continued stability across its investment teams. Individual fund ratings do vary, ranging from Negative to Silver, depending on the specific fund and strategy, which is pretty normal for a firm managing this many different funds.

A quick note: for the most current BBB accreditation status and rating, check directly on bbb.org. That specific figure wasn’t independently confirmed at the time of this review.

Recent 2026 Updates

• Avantis Investors crossed $100 billion in AUM on December 9, 2025, landing it in the top-five active ETF issuer group by AUM.
• The Q2 2026 investment outlook put firm-wide AUM at more than $325 billion.
• The strategic partnership with Nomura continues, with Nomura holding a 40% ownership stake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is American Century Investments legit?

It’s a legitimate, decades-old asset management firm regulated by the SEC, with brokerage services provided through a FINRA- and SIPC-member broker-dealer.

Is American Century Investments safe?

The firm itself is properly regulated, and SIPC protects brokerage accounts up to $500,000. The investments themselves still carry normal market risk, though company safety and investment risk aren’t the same thing.

What is the minimum investment at American Century?

Most mutual fund accounts need $2,500 to open, or just $500 with a $100/month automatic investment plan.

How do I withdraw money from American Century Investments?

Log in, pick the holding you want to redeem, and submit a redemption request. Funds reach your linked bank account after the trade settles, though exact timelines can vary by account type.

What are the fees at American Century Investments?

Direct mutual fund accounts with less than $10,000 incur a $25 semiannual maintenance fee. Brokerage accounts carry a separate $50 annual custodial fee. Both get waived above certain balance thresholds.

Who owns American Century Investments?

The Stowers Institute for Medical Research holds 45%, Nomura holds 40% as a strategic partner, and employees own the remaining 15%, according to Morningstar’s 2026 analysis.

What is American Century’s AUM?

More than $325 billion firm-wide as of Q2 2026, with Avantis managing over $100 billion of that total.

Does American Century offer ETFs and mutual funds?

Yes, along with target-date retirement funds and institutional strategies, making it a full-service asset manager rather than a single-product platform.

Is American Century Investments good for beginners?

It can work well for beginners who are comfortable with the $2,500 minimum and want professional, long-term fund management rather than a fully automated app experience.

What happens if my balance falls below the minimum?

American Century will notify you and give you 90 days to restore the balance or reinstate an automatic investment plan before the account risks being redeemed.

Is American Century Investments worth it in 2026?

For long-term, retirement-focused investors who are comfortable with the account minimums, yes. For short-term traders or very small accounts, the fee structure makes it less competitive than some app-first alternatives.

Final Thoughts: Is American Century Investments Worth It?

proinvest1now.com Rating: 4.0 / 5

Based on the regulatory standing, ownership structure, and fee data we’ve verified, American Century Investments comes across as a well-regulated asset manager with real scale behind it, over $325 billion in AUM, and a 45/40/15 ownership structure that channels meaningful profit toward medical research. Its biggest strength, in our assessment, is depth: mutual funds, commission-free ETFs through Avantis, and retirement solutions, all under one roof.

Its main drawback is just as clear: the fee structure rewards larger balances and long-term holding, while smaller direct accounts can lose real value to maintenance fees that ETF-first competitors simply don’t charge. In our view, if you’re a long-term investor who values professional management and a firm with a purpose beyond profit, American Century is worth a spot on your shortlist. If you’re starting small or trading short-term, weigh those account minimums and maintenance fees carefully before committing.

Disclaimer

The information in this article is for educational purposes only. proinvest1now.com is not a financial advisor. Fees, account minimums, and company data are based on publicly available information at the time of writing and are subject to change. Always confirm current terms directly with American Century Investments before making investment decisions. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

External References

• Protect Your Investments SEC/Investor.gov
• Check a Broker or Firm  FINRA BrokerCheck
• What Is SIPC Protection?  Investor.gov

Osama Umer

Osama Umer is a blogger and investment enthusiast with hands-on experience in financial markets, crypto, and smart investing strategies. He founded Proinvest1now to help everyday investors make better financial decisions through research-based content and market insights.