Research, analysis, and thoughts on retirement investments & the future of personalization
We have emerged from a tumultuous 2020. Covid-19 took over our lives and, for many, livelihood. The election finally came and went. And after the newsworthy bear market in the 1st quarter, the stock market proved very resilient as it recovered this loss extremely quickly to close out the year at all-time highs. So how did all this noise affect Target Date Fund (TDF) performance?
With the market trepidation of the 1st quarter having quickly receded, the 2nd quarter was notable for its complete turnaround performance-wise. Equities climbed significantly higher, with some areas of the market surpassing recent highs from late March. Fixed income kept moving right along as interest rates stayed relatively flat during the quarter. So, how did Target Date Fund performance fare?
With the United States, and world, currently entrenched in pretty massive uncertainty around COVID-19, unemployment, finances, politics, etc., it’s not surprising the industry saw a pretty massive dip in Target Date Fund (TDF) flow for the 2nd quarter. In this piece, we’ll look at those trends as well as track some general quarterly flow data.
The 4th Quarter of 2019 saw some interesting flow activity into TDFs. While there are many ways to slice and dice the information, we’ll take a look at some interesting highlights below.
Target Date Funds (TDFs) have a pre-determined glide path which drives its asset allocation. While it does not happen frequently per se, this pre-determined path can be changed by the TDF issuer at any time. These adjustments can be smaller more fringe changes or more wholesale methodology changes.