Thursday, March 31, 2011

Whole Foods Market 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



This plan was not helped by company stock WFMI which has a negative 5yr APR = -5.67% with high volatility. The Balanced portfoilio invested money in every plan option but company stock. The employee portolio has 9.9% of their portfolio in company stock as shown in the 3D scan image and it is their largest holding. The plan has several good options that provide a slightly above average 5yr return in the Balanced portfolio.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Thermo Fisher Scientific US 401k (RP) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Over the last 3 years this plan 5yr Balanced portfolio perfomance has improved significantly each year and the 3D scan now has a healthy look. Company stock TMO also has improved each year and is 6.6% of the Balanced portfolio. The employee portfolio has most of that portfolio in T. Rowe Price target date retiment funds and their stable value fund SVF.hpx in the scan. They have very little invested the other plan options. As I have pointed out in several TechNotes target date retirement funds in general are highly correlated by design and several company 401k plans restrict participants to one or two of these funds to achieve better diversification. All in all a good plan and company stock.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Agrium U.S. 401k (SP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Agrium is a Canadian company with U.S. employees that have a 401k plan. The plan trustee is SEI and all the plan options other than company stock AGU are SEI funds. The 3D scan shows that the 2D scan image seems to miss the Sharpe ratio correlations that produced a Balanced portfolio with more money in company stock 19.2% than even the employee portfolio at 11.4%.

The 3D Sharpe ratio surface has compound curvature because company stock not the fixed income options has the highest positive correlation with portfolio Sharpe ratio. The correlation chart shows this clearly. The Balanced portfolio has a higher Sharpe ratio 0.55 than the employee portfolio 0.46 but the 2D scan does not show this at all and it was very confusing to me when I first saw the scan results. At face value this indicates there can be significant differences between 2D and 3D design scan Balanced portfolios depending on the funds in a design scan. More on this later in a TechNote.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Mosaic 401k (IP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Mosaic plan has a few more options than in last years scan and all but one option are in the Balanced portfolio. Last year that portfolio had 57.7% of the plan in the stable value fund VRST and this year only 17.6%. Company stock has a very high 5yr return APR = 40.01% with extremely high volatility STD = 152.2%. The employee asset allocation in the 3D scan image has company stock MOS as their largest holding at 21.8% of the portfolio. Too aggressive for a retiree in my opinion. Keep in mind volatility kills compounding but this stock does have a positive 5yr Sharpe ratio inspite of that. Amazing.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

20 World ETF Portfolio PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



There have been few changes since the 6-31-2010 scan with the Balanced portfolio down slightly but still with a double digit at APR = 13.86% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.40. The top 3 holdings are EWM Malasia 19.4%, EWZ Brazil 11.8% and EWS Singapore 10.8%. As time goes by this portfolio's 5yr performance easily beats my own with about the same risk. I added EWS to my Roth last year and may add another ETF later this year.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Becton Dickinson 401k (SIP) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Balanced portfolio for the plan is still being helped by company stock BDX but not quite as much as last year. The 3 largest holdings are investment contracts SHY (49.2%) in the scan, company stock BDX (15.6%) and the State Street short term investment fund STIF (11.9%) in the scan. The employee portfolio as of 6-30-2010 invested 23.7% of their portfolio in company stock. This is not a bad plan but it could replace the two options with negative 5yr Sharpe ratios with funds of the same catagory that do have positive 5yr Sharpe ratios. There lots of them available.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Perrigo 401k (PSIP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Perrigo company stock PRGO continues to help the Balanced portfolio probably more than is prudent. That portfolio has 14.1% of the portfolio in company stock while the employee portfolio only has 9.4% invested in the stock. That almost never happens. In the 2D scan chart you can see that these two portfolios are very close and I think the employee profolio may be more prudent. If you look at the forward 5yr earnings growth rate WSJ forecast instead of the trailing 5yr growth rate using Ben Graham's formula you will see that the current value of company stock is a bit high. All in all a very good plan helped by company stock to a 5yr Balanced portfolio of APR = 10.03% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.24.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Zep Inc. 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Company stock ZEP does not yet have 5yr Market data and is not in the scan. The Balanced portfolio has continued to improve perfomance year-over-year and this year all but one of the investment options in the scan are in the Balanced portfolio. The employee portfolio assets over 5% of the plan are shown in the 3D scan image and they are very different from the Balanced portfolio. The top 3 holdings of the Balanced portfolio are PTTRX 32.5%, SWVXX 17.8% and WFBTX 11.9%. None of these are in the employee portfolio assets > 5% of plan and that is not prudent investing in my opinion.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Alliant Techsystems 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Alliant Techsystems stock ATK did not have a good 2010 and is not in the Balanced portfolio this year. The market was up in 2010 and all but 3 of the investment options are in the Balanced portfolio which improved quite a bit over last year. The Balanced and employee portfolio asset allocations are in the 3D scan image.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Lockheed Martin 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Company stock LMT did not do well in 2010 and while still in the Balanced portfolio only 1.7% of the plan is invested in the stock this year. The rest of the investement options did well and most are now in the Balanced portfolio. I found no information on employee asset allocation. The uniform asset allocation portfolio is very close to the Balanced portfolio. On a positive note company stock is doing well year-to-date in 2011 and the plan added an emerging market investment option.

CSX Corp. 401k (TSTP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The CSX plan Balanced portfolio continues to make company stock its second largest holding at 19.3% of the portfolio. The stable value fund SVF.hpx in the scan is the largest at 45.4%. The employee portfolio invested 39.7% of that portfolio in company stock, too much for a retiree in my opinion. Only one of the plan investment options is not in the Balanced portfolio which has above average performance and a very healthy looking 3D scan image.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Johnson & Johnson 401k (RSP) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Each year I look for this plan to change for the better and it does not. The Balanced portfolio is a GIC lifeboat again this year with 1.0% invested in company stock JNJ. There is not much to say.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Sigma-Aldrich 401k (RSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Sigma-Aldrich 401k Balanced portfolio performance has improved over last year and all but one of the plan investment options are in the portfolio. The 3 largest holdings are the bond fund PTTRX, the money market fund FRTXX and company stock SIAL which has done very well. The employee portfolio largest holding is the Fidelity contra fund FCNTX which is not a bad fund but it would not be my largest holding. All in all a good plan and a very good company stock the last 5 years.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

ConocoPhillips 401k (SP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



It has been two years since the last scan. The Balanced portfolio was helped very little this year by company stock COP and the Balanced portfolio only invested 1.5% of that portfiolio in the stock. The plan added Vanguard target date retirement funds and several are in the Balanced portfolio. The employee portfolio largest holding by far is company stock which increased their portfolio volatility but not their return compared to the Balanced portfolio. On the positive side the 3D scan shows 28 of 32 investment options are now in the Balanced portfolio providing better diversification than the 2008 scan Balanced portfolio.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Franklin Resources 401k (PSP) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Franklin Resources plan Balanced portfolio continues to be helped by company stock BEN but not as much as last year. This plan is one a very few that influenced my portfolio when I added TPINX to my bond fund holdings last year. The plan performance improved over last year and now has almost all of the plan investment options in the Balanced portfolio.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A PCRA 457 Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



This plan has improved a little over last year with about the same return and lower volatility. It was designed for my grandchildren and young people in general rather than retirees.

Friday, March 4, 2011

SAIC 401k (RP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Company stock SAI only has 4yr data but it would most likely not have a positve 5yr Sharpe ratio based on 4.2 yr data and so would not be in the Balanced portfolio. The Balanced portfolio has improved over last year and has little volatility. The employee portfolio has company stock as its largest holding at 25.1% which increases portfolio volatility. The Balanced portfolio three largest holdings are bond funds PTTRX and VBISX and a money market fund VMMXX. All in all a good plan with mostly Vanguard investment options.