Published : 7 years ago, on 01/06/2018

An Industry-Leading Program to Evaluate and Select Target Date Funds Gets Even Better

J. P. Morgan Asset Management is announcing a major upgrade to its popular Target Date CompassSM tool that advisors use to help plan sponsors make informed target date fund selections. The new Target Date Compass has easier, more intuitive navigation, deeper analytics, and greater customization. Together, these enhancements make Target Date Compass an even more indispensable resource for the timely, accurate and prudent analysis of the ever-changing target date fund universe.

First introduced a decade ago, Target Date Compass set the standard for helping defined contribution plan sponsors evaluate the critical differences among target date funds and has maintained its reputation as the industry leading tool. Powered by J.P. Morgan Spectrum* using Morningstar data, the enhanced Target Date Compass continues to help plan sponsors determine which target date funds fit their plans’ goals.

Thousands of advisors use Target Date Compass to help their plan sponsor clients narrow the growing array of fund choices. The program asks plan sponsors to consider important plan criteria including objectives, risk tolerance, demographics and expected participant behavior. Answers to these questions help plan decision-makers identify the Target Date Type that best matches plan goals and participant needs. This allows plan sponsors to concentrate on a group of funds that are likely to match the plan’s goals and objectives.

“With of the vast number of target date fund choices in the market, it is virtually impossible to make an informed choice without exhaustive analysis of the fund universe,” said Catherine Peterson, Global Head of Insights Programs at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “Target Date Compass allows advisors to conduct this analysis in a matter of minutes and generate custom reports that help meet fiduciary obligations with a well-defined process for making, documenting and defending target date fund decisions.”

The need for such a program is more critical than ever. Not only do target date funds represent more than 60 percent of net flows within defined contribution plans, according to Callan Investment Institute, but this growth has led to a multiplicity of fund choices, making decisions for plan sponsors even more complex.

Just as important is how this innovative program can help plan sponsors meet their fiduciary responsibilities for target date fund evaluation and selection. “It’s not only critical for plan sponsors to make prudent target date fund selections, the process helps them fulfill responsibilities of acting in the best interest of their participants,” said Mike Miller, Head of Retirement Distribution for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “Offering such a program is just one of the many ways that J.P. Morgan can help plan sponsors and their advisors make more-informed decisions. And it has the absolute added bonus of being easy to use and customizable.”

*J.P. Morgan Spectrum is the asset management division’s multi-faceted, end-to-end technology platform.

About J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Retirement

J.P. Morgan Retirement, part of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is a leading provider of comprehensive retirement solutions and is dedicated to improving individual retirement outcomes. The group has defined contribution assets under management of $118 billion, as of March 31, 2018.

About J.P. Morgan Asset Management

J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with assets under management of $1.7 trillion, is a global leader in investment management. J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s clients include institutions, retail investors and high net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world. J.P. Morgan Asset Management offers global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), the parent company of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is a leading global asset management firm with assets of approximately $2.4 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.