Simply put, a glide path is a calculation designed to support an employee’s desired retirement timeline through investments in a target-date fund. When an employee first joins a defined contribution pension plan with a target-date fund, they’re exposed to capital appreciation assets that offer the most attractive risk-adjusted returns in the wealth accumulation phase, typically […]
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic three years ago, the global economy has faced a bumpy ride, led by the lingering public health crisis, rising geopolitical tensions and high inflation. The 2023 Defined Contribution Investment Forum, which was held on Sept. 29 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto, shared thought leadership on the various […]
Plotting out a glide path is the most important part of designing a target-date fund — not only does it take members on a roughly 40-year investing journey, but it also has the most significant impact on their retirement outcomes. Glide paths must also address the key risks facing defined contribution plan members, said Satwick […]
Diversifying target-date funds by incorporating illiquid assets — such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure — could result in a 0.15 per cent annual increase in return over a decade, according to a recent report by Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives in partnership with CEM Benchmarking Inc. The report was authored by Angela Antonelli, a […]
When defined contribution plan sponsors conduct due diligence on target-date fund providers, they’re often considering questions of active versus passively managed funds, the benefits of glide paths that glide to versus through retirement, strategic versus tactical funds and a provider’s approach to environmental, social and governance investing. But according to Sarah Donahue, director of consultant […]
Building a defined contribution pension plan’s investment portfolio should incorporate the benefits and drawbacks of various historical regimes to provide a strong foundation, said Ruthann Pritchard, institutional portfolio manager for global asset allocation at Fidelity Investments, during a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2022 DC Plan Summit. “A robust glide path has to consider all of […]
The selection of a target-date fund glide path is more crucial than ever as the migration from DB to DC pension plans continues. Since its formation in the mid-1990s as an optional alternative to the company’s longstanding defined benefit offerings, the DC plan has amassed more than $1.5 billion in total assets as members gradually […]
Since target-date funds were introduced to the Canadian market in the early 2000s, they’ve become the dominant investment choice for defined contribution pension plan members. The funds, which are balanced with dynamic asset mixes that adjust as members approach retirement, are offered in a series — typically, one fund for each five-year target retirement band — with each fund […]
My last column, in April, talked about how Canadian target-date fund suites behaved differently during the first quarter of this year, where markets were reacting to the coronavirus crisis. The disparity of year-to-date returns continued in the following months. For some capital accumulation plan sponsors, the behaviour of their plans’ TDFs over recent volatile market […]
Defined contribution plan members are contending with volatile equity markets, ultra-low interest rates and the threat of inflation as the country’s economy begins its tentative recovery. In the first half of 2020, equities took an almost round trip, dropping significantly in the first quarter and recovering to the point that most markets are in neutral or positive […]