The Markets

It was a relatively quiet year on the target-date fund glide path front—at least as far as major equity/fixed-income changes go, according to Morningstar.

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets dropped by $5.3 billion (0.4%) in April.

About a third of outperformance from skill should go to hedge fund managers in the form of fees, and the rest to the investor, a report says.  

Fidelity Investments reported its average 401(k) balance rose to $74,600 at the end of the first quarter, up 8% from the end of the fourth quarter 2011.

 Ford Motor Company announced it will offer approximately 90,000 eligible U.S. salaried retirees and former employees the option to receive a voluntary lump-sum pension payment.    

Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, such as interest rate swaps, have become standard tools for defined benefit pension plans.

A new white paper explores how exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are created, and takes an in-depth look at the potential risks and advantages.

A lingering low interest rate environment helped make equities more attractive in the first quarter, Ibbotson reports. 

Flows into U.S. open-end mutual funds in the first quarter mirrored the equity market’s blistering performance, but investors were not chasing stocks.

The U.S., Japan and Australia are expected to escape the recession over the next 12 months. 

 U.S. mutual fund investors cautiously put an estimated $13 billion in net inflows into stock and bond funds during March 2012. 

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets totaled $1.2 trillion as of March 31, 2012.

Over two-thirds (69%) of investment consultants surveyed by PIMCO either support client interest or actively promote creating custom target-date strategies.

Baby Boomer women face challenges unprecedented in retirement planning, according to the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER).

Total U.S. retirement assets were $17.9 trillion as of December 31, 2011, up 4.9% in the fourth quarter of 2011 and about unchanged for the year.

National Retirement Planning Week 2012, which takes place Monday through Friday, will focus on Social Security and Baby Boomers' retirement readiness.

The 100 largest defined benefit (DB) pension plans experienced a $58 million improvement in funding in March. 

Institutional investment managers are increasingly optimistic about the U.S. economy, but remain concerned about macro risks such as the European debt crisis. 

The best possible target-date fund performance is critical to those saving for retirement.