Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges, Olympia, is adding 19 investment options to its 401(a) State Board Retirement Plan and 403(b) State Board Voluntary Investment Program, confirmed John Boesenberg, deputy executive director for human resources.
The change, which includes eliminating 17 TIAA-CREF investment options, leaves the DC plans with a lineup of 37 options plus a series of target-date funds. It is effective June 5. This will mark the first time the state board has offered options outside of TIAA-CREF, its record keeper, Mr. Boesenberg said.
The two plans have a combined $2.4 billion in assets.
The new lineup has five new bond strategies: total return and real return from Pacific Investment Management Co.; a short-term Prudential fund; global fixed-income from Franklin Templeton; and a BlackRock high-yield fund.
In large-cap core equities, the plans now offer growth funds from MFS Investment Management and Vanguard, a blend index fund managed by Vanguard, and a T. Rowe Price value fund.
One midcap equities fund, managed by Principal Financial Group, was added as were three small-cap options — value and blend strategies managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors, and a growth index managed by Vanguard.
There were two American Funds added — an international equity option as well as the American Balanced R6 multiasset fund. An emerging markets equity fund managed by OppenheimerFunds was also added to the international equity stable.
The remaining new options are REIT and natural resources funds managed by Vanguard, and a PIMCO commodity real-return fund.
