Tag Archives: Defined Contribution
The Target Date Industry Needs Appropriate Benchmarks
Target date funds have seen tremendous growth. At the end of 2019, assets in target date mutual funds reached nearly USD 1.4 trillion, impressive growth from USD 256 billion a decade ago.[1] Other than a brief dip in the fourth quarter of 2018, the growth of assets has been fairly stable with an upward trajectory…
- Categories Strategy
- Other Tags
- Categories
- Strategy
- Other Tags
How Is Your Undefined Benefit Plan Going?
I have probably been receiving them for years, but lately I have noticed opposing position papers in my inbox. Some claim Americans need a revival of defined benefit (DB) plans because of a looming retirement crisis, while others contend that defined contribution (DC) plans are doing great and there is no cause for alarm. DC…
- Categories Uncategorized
- Other Tags
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Other Tags
2018 Retirement Funding Update for DC Account Holders
2018 produced negative absolute returns across a number of asset classes, particularly international stocks. A broad benchmark of stocks traded outside of the U.S., the S&P Global ex-U.S. BMI (US Dollar) Gross Total Return Index, lost 14.18% of its value. Nevertheless, many investments kept pace with the change in cost of securing future retirement income,…
- Categories Equities, Fixed Income, Uncategorized
- Other Tags
- Categories
- Equities, Fixed Income, Uncategorized
- Other Tags
The Price of Retirement
In my last post, I discussed variability in cost and affordability of retirement income. I used some data from S&P STRIDE, our new benchmark that provides a cradle-to-grave yardstick for wealth accumulation and income generation. This week, I will look a little closer at how we measure retirement income, as well as its present value…
- Categories Equities
- Other Tags
- Categories
- Equities
- Other Tags
The Power of a Consensus Glide Path
Some who follow target date fund (TDF) performance have taken note that lately, the S&P Target Date Index Series has outperformed many TDFs. In most historical periods, index performance was middle of the pack. However, 2015 was an exception, as shown in Report 2 of our Year-End 2015 Target Date Scorecard. Every vintage of the…
- Categories Uncategorized
- Other Tags
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Other Tags
Make Room for a New Target Date Category
Defined contribution (DC) plans, such as 401(k)s, place challenging demands on individuals, the highlights of which are to save diligently (which implies having adequate income, as well as budgeting abilities), to rationally select from among numerous investment vehicles, and to judiciously transition from wealth accumulation to income generation as retirement approaches. Innovations in plan design,…
- Categories Uncategorized
- Other Tags
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Other Tags