2012 Projected Record Year for Mutual Funds

December 13, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Money-market funds saw their highest monthly net inflows—$72 billion—since December 2008, data from Strategic Insight shows.

Stock and bond fund investors, who have experienced more than $1 trillion in asset appreciation this year, continued to build wealth in November as they contributed net new cash to mutual funds. Historic levels of asset appreciation, strong stock fund total returns—averaging more than 13% through the end of November—and bond fund total returns, which averaged more than 8%, were major factors in stock and bond funds’ $417 billion monthly net intake, according to Strategic Insight, an Asset International company.

These factors are projected to make 2012 another record year for the fund industry, SI said. 

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Annual net flows through November surpassed $300 billion for bond funds as taxable bond funds attracted $18 billion. Taxable bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) netted $5 billion of monthly net intake, bringing year-to-date inflows to nearly $50 billion. Tax-free funds also attracted $5 billion.

Equity and asset-allocation funds saw net redemptions of $16 billion and $190 million, respectively, in November. The annual net outflows for equity funds reached $70 billion in November, while asset allocation funds have an annual net intake greater than $15 billion.

Exchange-traded products (ETPs) attracted $14 billion of net intake in November, bringing year-to-date flows to $152 billion. International equity ETFs netted $5 billion of inflows during the month, while domestic equity reached $4 billion. Globally, ETPs net flows exceeded $200 billion this year.

Additional information is available at www.SIonline.com. 

Milliman Rolls Out Retirement Planning Tools

December 13, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) Milliman Inc. has rolled out PlanAhead, tools and targeted services for employee retirement planning.

Included in the suite of services is PlanAhead for Retirement, a participant Web application that serves as a single destination for all of a participant’s retirement planning and investing activities. The tool allows participants to understand their retirement preparedness at a glance, providing insight that is very individualized and specific.  

Participants can supplement their defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) retirement plan information with other assets and investments, and will receive a snapshot of their progress toward retirement goals. Underlying this snapshot is a Monte Carlo simulator that runs thousands of scenarios to project likely outcomes. Participants can then make adjustments and chart the long-term implications of different investment and saving strategies.   

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These features are complemented by a library of retirement information and educational resources.   

For more information, visit www.milliman.com or contact a Milliman consultant.

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