Edwards Lifesciences 401k (SIP) PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan was helped by company stock EW and a stable value fund SVF.ing in the scan. The Balanced portfolio had 9.5% invested in company stock and 82.4% in the stable value fund. The employee portfolio was constructed from the 11-k report which did not breakdown asset allocation by fund, only by catagory. Company stock was 1/3 of the plan, trust assets 1/3 and the remaining 1/3 I distributed uniformly among the mutual funds. The company is here in Irvine CA not too far from the UCI Campus.

Philip Morris Intl. 401k (DPSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan holds mutual funds and the stock of Atria Group MO and Kraft Foods KFT as well as the new Philip Morris International stock PM. The new stock does not have 5yr data and was represented in the scan by MO. The Balanced portfolio has 2.7% invested in MO and 77.7% in the stable value fund Deutsche Pyramid represented by SVF.hpx. This fund is in the Hueler stable value index SVF.hpx. The employee portfolio has 28.75% in company stock PM represented by MO in the scan. This plan has no non-participant directed investments.

SAP America 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan is all Vanguard and has a good stable value fund VRST in the scan. The so called Balanced portfolio has 95.6% of the plan in VRST and the rest in VBMFX. The employee portfolio has most of the money invested in one fund VWELX and very little (1.4%) in company stock. As you can see in the 3D scan plot almost all the funds had negative 5yr data expecially the target retirement funds. In the scan target retirment funds like VTHRX without 5yr data were represented by their Fidelity equivalent in this case FFFEX.

Zep Inc. 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

Another lifeboat Balanced portfolio for a company whose stock does not yet have 5yr data. The Balanced portfolio is invested entirely in the money market fund and stable value fund. The SSgA money market fund SSMXX is represented in the scan by VMMXX which has 5yr data. The employee portfolio is diversifed which in a Black Swan market produced a 5yr APR of only 0.34%. The largest holding as of 12/31/2008 was a Dow Jones target retirement fund WFGYX represented in the scan by VTTVX which has 5yr data.

Quest Communications 401k (SIP) PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This is a small plan that was not helped by company stock Q. The scan included only investments that represent 5% or more of the plans assets. The Balanced portfolio put everything in a government fund that tracks GIV and was represented in the scan by FGOVX which has 5yr data. The employee portfolio as of 12/31/2008 had 9.2% of their money in company stock and the portfolio had a 5yr APR of 0.46%.

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

This is mostly a Vanguard plan and has a good stable value fund VRST in the scan. The Balanced portfolio has 94% of the money there. The employee's portfolio has VWELX as their largest holding and very little in company stock. I ran a scan without VRST and the Balanced portfolio APR changed very little but the STD went up by a factor of ten.

Stanton & Castleton IRA PSDS Scan 8/31/2009

I update this scan often looking for signs that a recovery is starting. The numbers are down from last year of course but the Balanced portfolio is up almost 20% year-to-date and truely balanced. All but one fund has a positive 5yr Sharpe ratio and the 3D scan does not look like a "lifeboat" portfolio. As I have noted before the Sharpe ratio and I part company on the LSBDX bond fund which has done well and has rebounded in 2009. The value fund TAVFX has a small negative Sharpe ratio but has rebounded well and is up 40% year-to-date. The actual portfolio and the Balanced portfolio are close showing that small differences in asset allocation produce small changes in performance as they should for a good design.

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

This plan was helped by company stock TRV and a stable value fund. The Balanced portfolio has 81.5% of the money in the stable value fund represented in the scan by the index SVF.hpx. The employee portfolio has 15.9% of their money in company stock and almost as much in AGTHX. Their top 4 investments after TRV as of 12/31/2008 were AGTHX, VINIX, FBIDX and FDIVX.

They all had 2008 problems but they are good investments that have recovered a good bit year-to-date.

Cerner Corp. 401k (RP) Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan was helped by company stock CERN which had a 5yr APR of 15.26% with an off the chart STD risk of 39.1%. The so called Balanced portfolio had 88.4% of the money invested in the stable value fund represented by the US Government 401k stable value fund FUNDG. The employee portfolio as of 12/31/2008 had 48.26% of the portfolio in company stock. That is more than I think prudent but the return has been good but very volatile. The stock is up 84.5% year-to-date.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum 401k PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan was helped a little by company stock RS and hurt by 2008. The Balanced portfolio had most of the money in the stable value fund FMIP in the scan. The employee portfolio had a money market fund FRTXX and company stock as their two largest holdings but they also had money in several target retirement funds that have not done well. Most have negative 5yr returns and 1.1% was the best return of any fund in that group. Bonds out perform them in most plans.

CLARCOR 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

Another plan helped by company stock CLC and hurt by 2008. This is a small plan with only Vanguard funds and that includes a good stable value fund VRST and a money market fund VMMXX. The Balanced portfolio has 79.9% of the money in the stable value fund which was also the largest holding in the employee portfolio.

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

This plan was helped by company stock DGX and the Balanced portfolio has 5.6% of the plan invested in the stock. The employee portfolio has 19.82% invested in the stock and the rest diversifed among all the funds. That and 2008 reduced the employee portfolio return to an APR of 2.43% and increased the STD risk to 3.65%.

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

Merrill Lynch like Wachovia became part of the Bank of America 1/1/2009. The only immediate change in the plan was the change in company stock. I suggest reading the last SEC 11-k report which discusses valuation issues with certain trust investments. The scan includes the 47 mutual funds in the plan which are mostly Blackrock funds. The Balanced portfolio has about half the money in the Blackrock money market fund.

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

The Balanced portfolio for this plan has six funds in it, a lot more than most "lifeboat" 2008 portfolios. The employee portfolio and the Balanced portfolio both have about 5% invested in company stock. The Merrill Lynch Retirement Preservation Trust is represented by the US Government 401k FUNDF. Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America 1/1/2009 and changes may occur in the ML funds. Their 401k plan already has seen a change in company stock.

Southwestern Energy 401k (SP) PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This plan was helped by company stock SWN more than any other I have scaned. The stock has a 5yr APR of 57.52% and is up year to date 43.6%. The Balanced portofilio has 10.3% invested in the stock and the employees portfolio has 34.2% in the stock as of 12/31/2008. The plan also has a stable value fund SVF.ing in the scan where the Balanced portfolio invested 80.3% of the plan. We live in interesting times.

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

This plan will be converted to the Wells Fargo 401k plan on 12/31/2009. The Wachovia plan did not have a stable value or a stable return fund and as the Balanced portfolio shows the plan was more agressive than most with 39.3% in an emerging market fund LZEMX. There is no emerging market fund in the Wells Fargo plan. In the scan VBIIX is a proxy for FIBIX where the employees had a lot of their money. It did not have 5yr data as of 12/31/2008 but it does now.

Wells Fargo + 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12/31/2008

This scan includes company stock WFC, the stable value fund DSVG1 and the stable return fund WFSRF in the scan. I did this because with their acquisition of Wachovia these new employees will be switched to the Wells Fargo 401k plan 12/31/2009 and I thought a scan with everything in might be helpful. As before VBIIX is a proxy for the Wells Fargo bond index fund DBI1.