You may notice a strange investment plan, such as 50% in a
lifecycle fund and 50% in money market funds.
The real estate allocation of the TIAA-CREF
Lifecycle fund series will typically range between 1% to 5% of each portfolios' assets employing a core investment style focused on institutional-quality US commercial real estate investments primarily in office, industrial, retail and multi-family residential properties that seek to generate returns primarily from rental income with asset appreciation as a secondary goal.
DeWitt, director of
lifecycle fund research at FRC, warns that investors need to be careful about investing in target-date funds because of the funds' lack of transparency.
Investors who entrust their retirement portfolio to a
lifecycle fund often do so because they're busy, confused, or overwhelmed by investment choices.
But the move can throw a delicately allocated
lifecycle fund off balance.
The opportunity to include direct real estate as part of our TIAA-CREF
Lifecycle Fund series allocation provides us with the ability to further diversify, reduce volatility and improve investment outcomes," said John Cunniff, managing director at TIAA Investments and portfolio manager of the TIAA-CREF Lifecyle Fund series, in a statement.
In general terms, the asset-allocation model in a target-date fund, also known as a
lifecycle fund, is designed to move money from riskier investments such as stocks to more conservative alternatives such as bonds, as investors approach a date close to their expected retirement.
Lipper recently named Nuveen the Best Overall Large Fund Company for the fifth year in a row and the Best Mixed Assets Large Fund Group for the second consecutive year, for its multi-asset strategies, including the TIAA-CREF
Lifecycle Fund series and the TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index Fund series.
Having a financial professional held strong appeal for only 15% of the workers on the sidelines, but 21% of those workers said they liked the idea of investing in a
lifecycle fund designed for workers within certain age groups.
Is adding a
lifecycle fund family to plan investment menus a great way to improve employees' results, or is it just another way to make the menus longer?
As a result, the last 10 years have seen an evolution in products and services such as
lifecycle funds, collective investment trusts (CITs) and managed accounts.
