Products March 28, 2008

Barclays Launches Five New ETFs

March 28, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Barclays Global Investors (BGI) announced the launch of five new iShares international exchange traded funds (ETFs).
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The iShares MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index) Fund (ticker: ACWI) and MSCI ACWI ex US Index Fund (ticker: ACWX) provide broad global exposure with benchmarks that are widely used and highly regarded by institutional investors, the announcement said. The iShares MSCI Israel (EIS), Thailand (THD), and Turkey (TUR) index funds are the first ETFs to cover those markets.

According to a NASDAQ announcement, the iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund and the iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Fund listed on the NASDAQ ETF Market, effective Friday.

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“These new products give investors exposure to a broad range of international economies, and are trading on a market designed specifically for them,” said Noel Archard, Head of iShares Product Development, in the NASDAQ announcement.

For more information about BGI’s iShares ETFs, visit  http://www.ishares.com .

Benefits March 27, 2008

Access to Asset Allocation Funds Widespread

March 27, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Just under six in 10 retirement plan participants in a recent survey said they have an asset allocation investment option in their plan.
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A Spectrem Group research report, Participant Asset Allocation Trends: Target Date and Lifestyle Funds, said of the 59% who could choose one of the immensely popular funds:

  • 14% had access to lifestyle options,
  • 9% could opt for target date portfolios, and
  • 36% had both as options.

Spectrem said of participants with asset allocation option access, 39% have no money in them and 22% have invested a portion of their accounts in those choices. Of the participants that do not currently have an asset allocation fund available to them, only 9% indicated they were “likely” to invest in them if they were made available, while 21% said they were “unlikely” to choose them. Forty one percent said they did not know.

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Some 59% of participants said their whole investment approach has not changed in the last several years, while 24% have become more aggressive and 17% more conservative.

Spectrem said participants were asked to rate various fund selection criteria on a scale of importance, and the top four were:

  • Fund expenses – 64%,
  • Past performance – 60%,
  • the specific companies in which the fund invests – 60%, and
  • the fund’s risk level – 60%.

Asked to specify only one most important metric, past performance was the clear winner (41%), while the guarantee of a minimum return was second (17%). Fund expenses came in second to last at 6%.

The Spectem poll also measured the extent to which participants were willing to take the investment reins themselves or would feel more comfortable taking the reigns. Forty eight percent (48%) have “some” interest in managing their personal finances and investments while 22% were “very” interested. Four percent were “not at all” interested.

Ten percent of participants reported they view themselves as “very knowledgeable” about finance and investments and 51% consider themselves “somewhat knowledgeable.” Eight percent indicated they consider themselves total novices.

A total of 400 plan participants were surveyed online during January and February 2007.

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