Schwab Aims Low With New Target Date Fund Suite
Charles Schwab Investment Management has launched a third suite of target-date funds using ETFs to create a retirement glide path for investors.
The Schwab Target Index Funds come with an industry-low expense fee of 8 basis points and no minimum investment requirements when the funds are used by retirement plan participants.
“We wanted to complete the suite of solutions that we offer with a mutual fund option at a low cost for investors,” says Jake Gilliam, senior multi-asset-class portfolio specialist at Schwab. “By using ETFs, we’re able to offer a lower cost in the mutual fund format and funds that can be used outside of ERISA qualified plans.”
Unlike Schwab’s previous lineups of collective trust target-date funds, the Target Index Funds will also be available in non-retirement plan accounts. Outside retirement accounts, the expense ratio will be 13 basis points and there will be $100 minimum investments.
Schwab’s target-date funds follow an allocation glide path that becomes more conservative over time, starting at around 95% equity and 5% fixed income at the longest range, and reaching its most conservative allocation 20 years after the target date at approximately 25% equity and 75% fixed income.
Franklin Templeton Launching Global Macro Fund Of Funds
Franklin Templeton Investments has introduced the multi-manager Franklin K2 Global Macro Opportunities Fund.
The fund invests in global macro hedge strategies with flexible mandates that go beyond long-only approaches, offering investors access to a range of hedge strategy manager subadvisors in a single diversified portfolio.
The fund’s goal is to provide capital appreciation throughout a full market cycle by allocating to hedge strategy managers selected through a rigorous, proprietary due diligence process. The strategies employed by the initial managers may include discretionary and systematic macro strategies.