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Reader Poll: Subtle Shifts in Investment Category Recommendations

Last week we took a look at the investment review process – but has it impacted the type(s) of investments recommended by NAPA Net readers?

The short answer seems to be – somewhat. For most of this week’s respondents, their recommendations were pretty much in line with their experience of the past several years. However, among those where a change had been experienced, the biggest uptick was in passive investments. The other categories – collective investment trusts, ETFs, institutional and/or R class shares – not so much (though some respondents indicated that the uptick in those offerings was not exactly a new phenomenon).

We also asked if there had been an uptick in plan sponsor interest in these categories, and here too passive investment topped the list. However, ETFs and institutional class shares were each cited by about a quarter each.

As for recommendations on qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs), off-the-shelf target-date funds were far and away (75%) the most common. Barely showing up on the radar among this week’s respondents were custom TDFs (either built from the plan menu, or independently), or TDFs of the record keeper.

Not surprisingly, off-the-shelf TDFs were what respondents said plan sponsors were buying, followed by the TDFs of the record keeper.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our weekly NAPA Net reader poll!

Curious about the industry’s sense of a hot topic? Want to know what your peers think about an issue? Post your question in the comments section below, or email me at [email protected].

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