Target-Date Funds Survey Raises Questions
for Plan Sponsors and Participants
Target-date funds have been broadly acknowledged as a powerful asset allocation solution for retirement plan participants. A late-2008 survey, sponsored by Janus and PLANSPONSOR magazine, uncovered some interesting findings on what Plan Sponsors think about target-date funds.
Double Standards
The concept of convenient diversification offered by target-date solutions has a new importance for plan sponsors, recordkeepers and advisors alike. Not only are they the post-Pension Protection Act default investment of choice for a growing number of plans and plan participants, recent market turmoil has dramatically elevated their importance for a wide swath of retirement savers.
According to data from target-date fund-specific questions in the 2008 Defined Contribution Survey, most plan sponsors reported that their recordkeeper still offers only single manager target-date funds, though the majority of plans said they believe that multimanager target-date funds are the better choice, both for quality and performance. In fact, a quarter of all plans stated that they are willing to leave their recordkeeper for another that offers multimanager target-date funds. Perhaps most surprising is that one-third of plans reported they do not know if their recordkeeper is offering them the most appropriate target-date fund. These important issues may impact conversations that advisors have with clients about their retirement investments.
Read a summary of the survey results that appeared in the November issue of PLANSPONSOR.
Please consider the charges, risks, expenses and investment objectives carefully before investing or recommending to clients for investment. For a prospectus containing this and other information, please call Janus at 877-33JANUS or download the file from janus.com/info. Read it carefully before you or your clients invest or send money.
Janus Distributors LLC (3/09)
FOR FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY / NOT FOR PUBLIC VIEWING OR DISTRIBUTION
C-0309-094 10-30-09
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