SEI Warns That Many TDFs Are Too Risky
SEI has been talking to TDF managers about deploying strategies within their investment lineup that mitigate the potential downside.
The Markets
Penn State to Adopt Fee-Leveling Approach in Retirement Plans
An announcement also notifies plan participants about revenue sharing paid to TIAA from some investment funds and says revenue sharing will be rebated to participants.
Workplace Demographics Shape a New Understanding of Retirement
Take a couple that is healthy and retiring today at age 65; the probability of at least one member of this couple living to age 75 is 97%,...
J.P. Morgan Retirement Leader Examines Sequence of Returns Risk in TDF Context
The latest though leadership from the firm asks an increasingly important question: “What should the TDF glide path look like as participants move from accumulating asset balances to...
Industry Left Confused by DOL’s ESG ‘Clarification’
A review of industry commentary dissecting the DOL’s recently published Field Assistance Bulletin on the topic of ESG investments suggests the “sub-regulatory guidance” has left a lot of...
Researchers Explain Benefits of Global Bond Markets Allocation
Researchers from Vanguard say an investment that includes the bonds of all markets and issuers would theoretically benefit from the greater number of issues, securities, and markets, and...
Advisers See Investor Reaction to Market Volatility as a Challenge
Besides providing investment advice, 88% of advisers think they need to guide clients through emotional decisions.
Smart Beta Demand Favors Multi-Factor Approach
Data shared by FTSE Russell, taken from the firm’s annual smart beta survey, suggests the use of “multi-factor combination smart beta index-based investment strategies” by institutional investors has...
Opportunities Exist, But Future of CITs in 403(b) Plans Remains Murky
Higher education clients with very large 403(b) plans could theoretically benefit from new laws or regulations allowing them to invest participant assets through collective trust vehicles, but for...
Are Managed Accounts Better for Participants Than TDFs?
Professional investment assistance helps DC plan participants’ outcomes; however, an analysis from Alight Solutions found users of managed accounts see higher returns, are more diversified and save more...
401(k) Investors Moved From Equities into Fixed Income in April
The flows went primarily to bond, stable value and money market funds.
‘Dilution’ Can Derail Outperformance in Institutional Factor-Based Portfolios
In conversation with PLANADVISER, Northern Trust Asset Management’s head of quantitative research steps through some of the pros and cons of using factor-based portfolios and so called smart-beta...
Plan Sponsor Returns Declined in First Quarter
This is the first dip since the third quarter of 2017, according to BNY Mellon
Institutional Plan Returns See First Negative Quarter in Nearly Three Years
Market volatility weighed down returns, with Corporate Plans seeing a median first quarter loss of 0.78%.
ICI Data Shows Managers Have Substantially Cut TDF, Other Mutual Fund Expenses
A broad new Investment Company Institute analysis shows the expense ratios of target-date mutual funds have fallen 34% since 2008, alongside the expense ratios of most other types...
Volatility, Strategic Thinking, and Long-Term Perspective
PLANADVISER presents an impromptu Q&A with John Diehl, senior vice president of strategic markets for Hartford Funds, on the subject of market volatility and keeping a long-term perspective...
Treasury Rates’ Slow Upward March Boosted Pension During April
Favorable equity market and interest rate forces resulted in a 2% increase in the average U.S. pension plan funded status during April.
Leveraging the Popularity of TDFs to Provide Retirement Income
In a Q&A with BlackRock Managing Director Anne Ackerley, PLANADVISER hears about emerging opportunities to deliver retirement income solutions to DC plan participants, including through TDFs.
10 Years Beyond Crisis, Pension Fund Allocations Have Shifted
The financial crisis resulted in severe declines in the funded status of most U.S. corporate pension funds resulting in almost universal pension deficits; companies’ various responses to the...
WTW Warns of Potential Credit Portfolio Impacts Based on Tax Reform
Adjustments made to the corporate tax rate, repatriation of offshore cash and interest rate deductibility all are likely to have immediate effects on the credit markets—and by extension,...