Mutual Funds

Putnam, a large Boston-based money manager with $110 billion in assets, plans to move from 10 to 50 percent of the assets currently in its target date mutual funds into four different absolute return funds. The move serves as a confirmation of the hazards that sequence of returns risk presents to near retirees and those who are recently retired. As recently reported by Bloomberg, target date funds have come under increasing regulatory scrutiny as funds that are intended to serve investors...

Brett Arends' recent column in the Wall Street Journal discusses the Cult of Equities, or as Arends describes: the naïve and euphoric belief that the stock market offers a one-way ticket to wealth: "riches for all." Arends discusses the possibility that a generation of investors--both professional and retail--may be starting to realize that stocks are to be cautiously considered for a portion of one's portfolio rather than serving as the dominant asset class. Market volatility is likely a...

Two industry-leading consultants have published a study that compares a range of wealth management strategies that are available to individuals in retirement. None of the strategies are dominant on an overall basis, but certain approaches show clear strengths in terms of income generation, levels of wealth, and the impact on bequest motives. The dramatic impact of product fees is also addressed. Six different retirement strategies are discussed: Systematic withdrawal from mutual funds. Fixed...