Advisors are apparently making good use of lifecycle and lifestyle funds, according to a recent survey by Russell Investment Group.
The poll of 63 advisors who attended the company's annual conference in April found that 76% currently recommend these types of funds to their clients. They also said that client assets devoted to these funds have increased over the past year.
   Lifecycle and lifestyle funds are typically tailored to meet an investor's needs by tailoring asset allocation to various risk tolerance levels and specific retirement dates.
   Sixty-three percent of the respondents said that their primary use of these products is in retirement planning.
   They also said that in choosing among available lifecycle and lifestyle investment products, the most important factors were investment process, 58%; asset allocation, 52%, and underlying manager selection, 50%. Manager brand name was considered important by only 27% of respondents.
   A majority of advisors also cited built-in diversification, ease of use and automatic rebalancing as important criteria from a client's perspective, according to the survey.
   "Lifestyle and lifecycle products can be an excellent vehicle for helping clients reach their retirement goals and it is pretty clear that advisors recognize this and are successfully helping their clients understand the benefits of using these types of products," said Kristin Gibson, director of national accounts for Russell Retirement Services.