Investing

“We’ve heard the need for these investment options in 403(b) plans from advisers, consultants and plan sponsors for decades,” says Bruce Corcoran, managing vice president/head of 403(b) Business at ICMA-RC.

August brought six above-normal trading days, the highest monthly total since a previous bout of equity market volatility in December 2018.

Investors cite several common considerations for including a dedicated allocation to real estate, and a recent survey of American investors found real estate ranked as the top investment option they consider to be the safest for long-term retirement investing.

Experts suggest the uncertain U.S.-China trade situation has weighed heavily on business investment, resulting in weaker manufacturing activity worldwide.

Investment experts remind retirement investors that international investments can help to diversify a portfolio

Participants who mix target-date funds (TDFs) with other investments appear to be more sophisticated, but "it can diminish (or eliminate) the target-date fund’s potential benefit,” says David Blanchett, head of Retirement Research at Morningstar Investment Management LLC.

This should be a focus when looking at target-date funds (TDFs) often used as the default investment in employer-sponsored defined contribution (DC) plans.

While they have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 7.25% a year in the past five years, if advisers were better educated about them and if the transparency issue could be addressed, that growth could rise significantly, according to the research firm.

A litigation firm has listed what it is investigating for potential lawsuits over target-date funds (TDFs) in retirement plans.

Brexit uncertainty. An inverted yield curve. A burgeoning trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Slowing global growth and shifting currency valuations. Is it all enough to spark a recession?

Plan advisers can help 403(b) plan sponsors looking for downside protection, active strategies and target-date funds (TDFs) that can be used as a decumulation vehicle in retirement.

It was also the 18th month in a row that net trades have moved from equities into fixed income

Among the remarkable characteristics of today’s global fixed-income marketplace is the $15 trillion invested in negatively yielding bonds.

“We just had an asset-allocation meeting and we spent probably half of it talking about global trade tensions and the China-U.S. relationship,” says Bob Brown, CIO at Northern Trust. “This is a big deal for the markets. The two largest economies in the world have changed the nature of their relationship.”

To combat the squeeze, asset managers will seek out new markets, product offerings and investment capabilities, says Cerulli.

River and Mercantile suggests that they use equity derivatives to provide contractual exposure to the equity market, but in a way where risk can be managed.

For the 17th straight month, 401(k) investor trades have favored fixed income, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index.

Individual investors expect roughly twice the yearly returns forecast by their advisers and investment managers.