Proprietary target-date fund assets have lost their majority status among total target-date fund assets, said research published Tuesday by BrightScope, a firm that evaluates 401(k) plans.
The percentage of proprietary target-date fund assets — those managed by a 401(k) plan’s record keeper — slipped to 50% of total mutual fund-based target-date fund assets in 2013, the last year information was available.
In 2010, when BrightScope began measuring closed vs. open architecture assets in target-date funds, proprietary investments accounted for 57% of target-date fund assets. In 2011, it was 55%, and in 2012, 52%.
“Sponsors are more willing to go off-platform,” Brooks Herman, head of data and research for BrightScope, said in an interview. “They are more cognizant of fees and different glidepaths.”
Mr. Herman said the target-date asset research was based on BrightScope’s review of 10,000 401(k) plans.
