Watson Pharmaceuticals 401k Plan 12/31/2008

Another "lifeboat' Balanced portfolio with 92.9% invested in the stable value fund VRST in the scan. Vanguard's Retirement Savings Trust (VRST) has a very high Sharpe ratio of 9.3. The employee portfolio also has VRST as its largest holding but less than 40%. In the scan MDY was a proxy for VMGIX which does not yet have 5yr data. Also, only the Target Retirment funds with 5yr data are in the scan.

NY Times 401k (RIP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan has no money in company stock, NYT, which is good. However, the employee portfolio as of 12/31/2008 had almost no money in the Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund, VMMXX, which was not so good. The Balanced portfolio has 79.5% of the money invested in this fund and that portfolio has a modest positive 5yr APR 0f 3.82%. The employee portfolio had a negative 5yr APR 0f -0.22%. In the scan VEIEX is a proxy for XEMFX.

Quest Diagnostics 401k (PSP) PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan was helped by company stock, DGX, and it is the largest employee investment as of 12/31/2008. The plan also has a good stable value fund, Fidelity Managed Income Portfolio, FMIP in the scan. The so called Balanced portfolio has 71% of the money in that option because of its large Sharpe ratio.

Key Corp 401k (SP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

The largest employee investment in this plan as of 12/31/2008 was company stock, KEY. It had a negative 5yr APR of -17.37%. The employee portfolio 5yr APR return was -2.95%. The plan is small with a stable value fund and that is where the Balanced portfolio put 94.1% of the money. Another "lifeboat" portfolio.

Legg Mason 401k (PSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan has Legg Mason funds and a few popular mutual funds. The plan was not helped by company stock, LM, which has a 5yr APR of -14.38%. The Balanced portfolio is invested mostly in the money market fund CILXX. The top two employee holdings are LMNVX and CILXX. The employee portfolio as of 12/31/2008 had a 5yr APR of -4.78%. The emerging market fund SBEYX was represented by EEM which has 5yr data.

Emerson Electric 401k (RSP) PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

Effective April 2008 Vanguard became the trustee of the plan and most of the funds are now Vanguard funds. The plan stable value fund was represented by FUNDG in the scan. The two Capital Guardian funds in the plan were represented by ETF proxies. The Balanced portfolio is invested in the SVF, company stock EMR and the two bond funds PTTRX and VBMFX. No information on employee asset allocation was found in the 3/2009 SEC 11-k filing.

Portfolio Design Scan Visitor Map 2009

The map is similar to the 2008 which shows the last 500 visitors. Most are individuals but about a third are from financial services firms and about 10% are from government agencies here an abroad. As of July 2009 there have been visitors from over 50 countries.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber 401k PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

Another plan hurt by company stock and the 2008 market. The result is a so called Balanced portfolio invested 100% in the GIC option. The employees as of 12/31/2008 had 54.1% invested in the GIC option and 4.9% in GT stock. The 5yr stock performance is a poster child for how volatility kills compounding. The 5yr APR average was 16.3% and the annualized 5yr APR was

-5.31%, its simple arithmetic.

Stanton & Castleton IRA PSDS Scan 6/30/2009

I rebalance after the 6/30/2009 data become available and I do not have a "lifeboat" portfolio asset allocation. In fact the Balanced portfolio and the actual are significantly different as you can see here. The big differences are LSBDX which I have discussed in a TechNote and FLPSX and TAVFX which are long term investments that are perfoming very well after a terrible 2008. I show these comparisons to remind everyone that Sharpe ratio is only one of several criteria that need to be considered in rebalancing. As I have said many times you cannot reduced all decisions to a calculation. The scans are a tool not a rule.

PPG Industries 401k (ESP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This is a small plan hurt by company stock, PPG. The Balanced portfolio is invested in the stable value fund (87.1%) and the money market fund (12.9%). The employee portfolio as of 12/31/2008 had 32.5% of their money in company stock. Another "lifeboat porfolio' with exaggerated PSR because of the stable value fund.

Nordstrom 401k (PS) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This a small plan with a stable value fund and that is where the Balanced portfolio invested 90.8% of the plan. The employee portfolio as of 12/31/2008 still had money in company stock. JWN, which has a negative 5yr APR at -3.26%. The stable value fund was SVF.hpx in the scan.

Year over year participant directed investments lost 32% because of 2008 which was a Black Swan year as we all know.

Valero Energy 401k (TP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan company stock has the highest volatility I have seen; the 5yr STD is over 78%. The Balanced portfolio is almost all in the stable value option, SVF.hpx in the scan. The employee portfolio has company stock VLO as its largest investment at 34% as of 12/31/2008. The oil industry has a much higher risk tolerance than most. On a positive note even with huge volatiliy the stock had a 5yr APR 0f 14.4% and a positive Sharpe ratio of o.15.

Wyeth 401k (SP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan Balanced portfolio is mostly in the GIC and PTTRX. The employee portfolio has its largest investment in the GIC but was hurt by company stock which was the second largest holding as of 12/31/2008. The funds in the plan are mostly Fidelity including one I own.

UNISYS 401k (SP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan has many Fidelity funds and GICs which were the largest holding as of 12/31/2007. The employees had almost no money in company stock which had a 5yr APR of -43.53%. The Balanced portfolio is mostly in FGOVX 10.5%, FDIXX 23.4% and the GICs 46.7%. In the scan the GICs were represented by GIC.ekx a GIC index. This is another "lifeboat" portfolio.

Torchmark 401k (SIP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan has no stable value investment option but it does have several very good Bond funds. The Balanced portfolio invested almost all of the plan in two funds, LEXNX and TPINX. The employee portfolio as of 12/31/2007 had over half the plan in company stock which had only a 0.55% 5yr APR. The Balanced portfolio had a 5yr APR of 6.57%, not too bad considering 2008.

A 25 Year 401k Plan Graphic

At the four funerals and a wedding time of life I am often asked by friends and family what I am doing these days. When I tell them their response is polite but very skeptical. This post is not a scan but the data from the 25 years I was on the 401k profit sharing committee for myself. It began 6/30/1980 and ended 6/30/2004 when I retired and rolled my 401k over into an IRA. It is my attempt to deal with all the "show me the data questions" in one place.

A Top 30 ETF Porfolio PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

I said goodby to an old friend yesterday. He was my exact opposite when it came to risk, he probably would have liked this portfolio. The 30 ETF funds all have 3yr data but many do not yet have 5yr data. They all have positive 3yr returns and most have positive Sharpe ratios.

Prudential Financial 401k (ESP) Plan Scan 12/31/2008

This plan was not helped by company stock. The employees as of 12/31/2008 had over 50% of their money in the money market fund, FDRXX in the scan. The Balanced portfolio had 42.5% in that fund and most of the rest in two bond funds, Prudential core bond enhanced index (PRU.pim) and a Fidelity governemnt income fund, FGOVX in the scan. The Prudential core bond index is a SMA investement as is PRU.lsv in the scan.