June 14, 2013
TDA quoted in Wall Street Journal, Missing the Target, by Liam Pleven and Joe Light:

“’Young investors often end up in investments that could be inappropriate for their age. For example, they often put retirement money in the kind of stable value funds that might be better suited for someone who needs to tap it soon, when in fact retirement is decades away,’ says Craig Israelsen, co-founder of Target Date Analytics, which studies the funds for employers and financial advisers.

“That’s like preparing to stop at a stop sign a mile before you get there. They were braking way too soon,’ he says.” “Surprisingly, even in the mega-plan market, until very recently there has been very little interest in moving away from off-the-shelf bundled product… even though they could demand a much better deal.” Plan sponsors were waiting to see what developed in the market and weren’t comfortable switching from the bundled product, he says. “Now they have read enough and learned enough to set up a nonretail, non–mutual fund structure and get a better suite of target-date funds for their plan demographics,” he adds.

July 31, 2012
TDA quoted in Money Magazine, The truth behind target-date funds, by Pat Regnier:

“Critics of aggressive target-date funds say investors should focus on saving more, not on late-in-the-game stock bets.

"’To say you didn't save enough and therefore you have to take more risk, it doesn't follow,’ says Joe Nagengast of Target Date Analytics.”

April 2012
BrightScope OnTarget Index Models now available on Mid Atlantic Trust Company’s ModelXchange Program.
Now, advisors and plan sponsors have access to the research and findings of Target Date Analytics in the form of models based on our indexes, available on Mid Atlantic Trust’s ModelXchange program. These models deliver the best of fundamental target date investing at the skinniest pricing you can imagine, while providing all the disclosures and transparency required under 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5). Email or call for more information.

March 26, 2012
TDA quoted in Ignites (a Financial Times publication) article, “Target-Date Trend Could Transform Business,” by Danielle Sottosanti:

Large plans have started to realize the extent of their leveraging power, according to experts.

“I would think now you are going to see some significant inroads made to the dominance of these big players,” says Joseph Nagengast, principal at Target Date Analytics. “Surprisingly, even in the mega-plan market, until very recently there has been very little interest in moving away from off-the-shelf bundled product… even though they could demand a much better deal.” Plan sponsors were waiting to see what developed in the market and weren’t comfortable switching from the bundled product, he says. “Now they have read enough and learned enough to set up a nonretail, non–mutual fund structure and get a better suite of target-date funds for their plan demographics,” he adds.

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Large platforms like Fidelity are unlikely to feel pressured to open up their target-date funds to other managers in the near future, experts say.

“I think Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price will fight tooth and nail before any outside managers get any significant allocation in their target-date offerings,” Nagengast says.

May 1, 2012
Popping the Hood V, with results through December 31, 2011, is currently in production. To prepurchase licensing or for more information, email or call .

April 2012
BrightScope OnTarget Index Models now available on Mid Atlantic Trust Company’s ModelXchange Program.
Now, advisors and plan sponsors have access to the research and findings of Target Date Analytics in the form of models based on our indexes, available on Mid Atlantic Trust’s ModelXchange program. These models deliver the best of fundamental target date investing at the skinniest pricing you can imagine, while providing all the disclosures and transparency required under 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5). Email or call for more information.

March 26, 2012
TDA quoted in Ignites (a Financial Times publication) article, “Target-Date Trend Could Transform Business,” by Danielle Sottosanti:

Large plans have started to realize the extent of their leveraging power, according to experts.

“I would think now you are going to see some significant inroads made to the dominance of these big players,” says Joseph Nagengast, principal at Target Date Analytics. “Surprisingly, even in the mega-plan market, until very recently there has been very little interest in moving away from off-the-shelf bundled product… even though they could demand a much better deal.” Plan sponsors were waiting to see what developed in the market and weren’t comfortable switching from the bundled product, he says. “Now they have read enough and learned enough to set up a nonretail, non–mutual fund structure and get a better suite of target-date funds for their plan demographics,” he adds.

+++

Large platforms like Fidelity are unlikely to feel pressured to open up their target-date funds to other managers in the near future, experts say.

“I think Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price will fight tooth and nail before any outside managers get any significant allocation in their target-date offerings,” Nagengast says.

February 9, 2012
TDA quoted in Reuters' article, More U.S. workers put 401(k) investments on autopilot

December 5, 2011
TDA quoted in Newsweek's Daily Beast, “Target Date Funds for Retirement,” by Jean Chatzky

“The other important thing to know is when your fund hits its “landing point,” or most conservative position. Is it at the “target date” in the name or 20 or 30 years down the road? For many funds it’s the latter, explains Joseph C. Nagengast of the research firm Target Date Analytics. “There’s no justification for that,” he says. “Right now, 60 percent of funds are misleading.” Despite this, he believes the prevalence of TDFs is a good thing. “Most do a better job of managing participant portfolios than participants left on their own,” he says.

October 18, 2011
Target date funds get bigger and better, according to TDA and Brightscope in Reuters Money.

March 11, 2011
Brightscope and TDA earn a mention in the Wall Street Journal blog for our comments on the SEC’s proposed rule on Target Date Retirement Fund names and marketing.

October 10, 2010
TDA quoted in Los Angeles Times article, “Don’t Put Blind Faith in Target Date Funds,” by Walter Hamilton:

“Investors nearing retirement should consider moving out of (commercial) target-date funds and into safer alternatives," said Joe Nagengast, principal of Target Date Analytics LLC, a research and investment management firm in Marina del Rey. “Up until about age 50 they should be fine,” he said. “But starting at 50 or 55 they need to start paying attention and start looking around for diversification or professional assistance.”

Note: This statement is consistent with the position we have always maintained, that tdfs are appropriate for the accumulation phase, but are counterproductive in the distribution phase. Most commercial products ignore the difference, claiming to serve participants “through” the target date. Investors in those products especially should look for a suitable and customized exit strategy as the target date nears. Investors in td funds that are managed “to” the target date may stay in the fund until the target date with a higher degree of security, since “to” funds are designed for safety at the target date. JCN.

July 15, 2010
CalSTRS selects Target Date Analytics and BrightScope OnTarget Indexes to benchmark and monitor the target date portfolios of the California State Teachers Retirement System-Pension2.

June 24, 2010
TDA quoted in Market Watch article, “SEC Falls Short with Proposed Target Date Fund Rules”:

Joseph Nagengast, a principal at Target Date Analytics LLC, said, "The SEC has failed completely at the opportunity and responsibility they had to act for the protection of America's 401(k) investors. Instead they accepted the mutual-fund industry's position that nothing is wrong with the current batch of target-date funds," he said.

"The SEC is suggesting by their response that the solution is to require every target-date investor to interpret complicated graphs and charts and tables before accepting a given target-date fund strategy," Nagengast said. "Participants won't read it. And won't understand it if they do."

June 17, 2010
TDA quoted in Investment News article, “Target Date Fund Disclosure Plan Falls Short of the Mark, Say Critics”:

Some industry participants argue that the SEC could have required that fund companies simply state the date when investors are supposed to (retire or) liquidate the fund. "All you have to do is put in the right date in the name of the fund," said Joe Nagengast, principal and founder of Target Date Analytics. "What I want to know is will the money I'm putting away be there when I retire, or are you going to gamble it for another 30 years?" He added that a participant in a 2010 fund "has to learn that 2010 really means 2040. That’s the SEC’s solution."

June 16, 2010
TDA quoted in U.S. News & World Report article, “Why Critics Are Still Skeptical about Target Date Funds":

Joseph Nagengast, a principal at the research firm Target Date Analytics, accuses the SEC of capitulating to pressure from fund companies. He argues that the real problem is that many target-date funds don’t reach their most conservative allocations until years after the date on the name of the fund has passed. Take, for instance, T. Rowe Price’s Target Retirement 2025 fund. The fund’s allocation to stocks eventually decreases to 20 percent, but it doesn’t do so until 2057—more than 30 years after the retirement date. "The only disclosure that will do any good would be to require that the date in the name of the fund be the date at which the allocation reaches its most conservative position," Nagengast says. "We’re doing all this disclosure to try to explain that something isn’t what it says it is. Why not just require [providers] to name funds properly?"

May 7, 2010
TDA quoted in OnWallStreet article, “The Product Guru: Created for Convenience, Target Date Funds are Proving Complex”:

“These products needed to be marketed (and named) as such (referring to funds targeting dates beyond the target date)," said Joe Nagengast, the founder of Target Date Analytics. He testified in front of Congress last year on this issue and said the new moves for more transparency do not address the problem that is really very simple. "You need to regulate the name of the fund,” he said. "A fund that is called a 2010 fund should reach its most conservative asset mix in 2010."

April 9, 2010
TDA quoted in New York Times article, “Some Target Date Funds Adjusting after Criticism”:

With so many people depending on these funds, and with dozens of companies offering new ones, some industry experts started to question the funds’ design and methodology. "We had been warning for years prior to 2008 that most funds were ignoring the requirement to protect participants’ assets as they approached the retirement date by reducing equity exposure," said Joe Nagengast, founder of Target Date Analytics in Marina del Rey, Calif.

November 2, 2009
401k Ratings Firm BrightScope Partners With Target Date Analytics to Unveil the BrightScope OnTarget Index
Published on earthtimes.org

June 18, 2009
TDA testifies before the Department of Labor and Securities and Exchange Commission
Joint Hearings on Target Date Funds
Joe Nagengast, panelist, Washington, DC
View testimony transcript