According to Investment News, the hot new trend in target date funds is…tactical asset allocation!
AllianceBernstein LP, Van Kampen Funds Inc., Invesco Ltd. and Putnam Investments have all announced changes to their target date portfolios that will enable managers to provide more active management.
In some cases, the funds now will allow managers to move in and out of different asset classes more quickly during market fluctuations. Others are adding funds to their target date portfolios that are meant to protect investors from market downturns.
These fund companies are not bit players-they are large and they have a lot of industry influence. They have discovered that their original premise of using strategic asset allocation did not work very well during the last downturn. Additionally, they may be concerned that piling more bonds into target date portfolios as investors age might not be a great idea in this interest rate environment.
Maybe it is something else entirely that is making them nervous. Whatever the reason, it is interesting to see that they have suddenly gotten religion, thrown strategic asset allocation overboard, and gone tactical.