all types of target date funds basically alike

all types of target date funds basically alike ; No. Funds that share the same target date may have significantly different investment strategies and risk profiles. The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published an investor bulletin stressing that ‘participants should not rely on the fund’s target date as the sole criterion for selecting the investment because funds with the exact same target date may have entirely different risk strategies, risks, returns and fees.’

One of the most significant differences among target date funds is the construction of the ‘glide path.’ The glide path represents the asset allocation philosophy among equities, bonds, cash and other investments at various times throughout the investment life of a participant. Typically, all target date funds have a higher exposure to equities when the participant is furthest from retirement (at the beginning of the glide path) and steadily decrease the exposure to equities as the individual approaches retirement age.

However, different investment managers may have significantly different strategies for a similar target date fund.

The EBSA and SEC provided an example in their bulletin of the extreme differences between target funds with identical target dates. In the example, at its target date, Fund A had an asset allocation of 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds, while Fund B maintained an allocation of 25 percent stocks, 65 percent bonds and 10 percent cash investments.

Fund A does not reach its most conservative mix of 30 percent stocks and 70 percent bonds until 25 years after its target date. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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