Monday, February 28, 2011

IBM 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010




The IBM plan Balanced portfolio was helped by company stock IBM and it invested 4.3% of the portfolio in the stock. The employee portfolio invested 6.0% in the stock as shown in the 3D scan image. This plan has 32 investment option catagories listed in the SEC 11-k report and their 401k web site has over 100 investment funds in a spreadsheet like format with employee portfolio tracking tools available. IBM does take care of business. In the scan this year Vanguard funds were used for every catagory with 3 exceptions FIREX, PEBIX and PTTRX. That was to better align the scan with the 11-k report and it was less personal than last years scan.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Southwestern Energy 401k (SP) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



This plan Balanced portfolio continues to be helped by company stock SWN although it is one of the most volatile stocks around. It had a bad year in 2010 and till has a positive 5yr Sharpe ratio. All but one of the investment options are in the Balanced portfolio with the stable value fund SVF.hpx in the scan being the largest holding. The employee portfolio asset allocation for options with 5% or more of the plan are shown in the 3D scan image along with the Balanced portfolio asset allocation.

Friday, February 25, 2011

A Hewitt 401k Index Portfolio PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Hewitt Index historical asset allocation posted on the Web for August 2010 was used for this portfolio design scan. All 13 catagories in the index were represnted by investement options from the 249 401k plans that were scanned in 2010. I used DIA as a proxy for company stock and the self-directed window proxy is FCNTX.

Money Market VMMXX 2.5%
GIC/Stable Value SVF.hpx 34.0%
International AEPGX 5.5%
Bond PTTRX 6.0%
Balanced PRPFX 5.5%
Lifestyle Pre-Mix L2020 9.0%
Large US Equity SPY 15.0%
Mid US Equity MDY 2.0%
Small US Equity VBR 4.0%
Emerging Market EEM 0.75%
Specialty/Sector GLD 0.25%
Company Stock DIA 13.0%
Self-Directed FCNTX 2.5%
The investment options are my selections based on the many 40k plans scanned in 2010. One asset allocation difference is the Bond catagory where I saw a bit more invested in PTTRX than the Hewitt index Bond allocation of 6%. That one fund holds so much retirement money it makes me nervous but their record speaks for itself. Another big difference is the Large US Equity catagory SPY in the scan which has only 0.2% of the Balanced portfolio asset allocation.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Range Resources 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



Every year this plan is helped by company stock RRC and I try add it to my Sharpe stock portfolio but it is just too volatile for an old retiree. The Balanced portfolio invested 3.1% of the plan in the stock and the employee portfolio invested 43.6% in the stock. This company owns rights to natural gas fields in North America. The 3 largest holdings in the Balanced portfolio are the stable value fund (25.7%) SVF.hpx in the scan, the bond fund (22.7%) PTTRX and the international bond fund (10.3%) OIBAX. This plan has 23 options and only 6 do not have positive 5yr Sharpe ratios.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

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



The Pfizer plan Balanced portfolio improved over last year but no thanks to company stock PFE which continues to have a negative 5yr APR. Infact it has a negative 3yr, 5yr and 10yr APR. The largest holding in that portfolio is the Blackrock US Debt Index Fund FUNDF in the scan and the second largest is the stable vaue fund SVF.hpx in the scan. The employee portfolio holdings greater than 5% of the plan are shown in the 3D scan image.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Royal Bank of Canada 401k (RSP) PSDS Scan12-31-2010





The Bank's 401k plan for USA employees is large and the Balanced portfolio invested 6.4% of the plan in company stock which has a nice return but with very high volatility. The employee portfolio invested 27.7% in the stock. The plan uses AllianceBernstein Target Date funds and that took a little extra effort to find 5yr market data for some of the funds. All in all a good plan with a very good Fidelity money market fund FDRXX and almost no employee money in the fund. The Fidelity stable value fund FMIP2 in the scan only got 13.0% of the Balanced portfolio while FDRXX got 34.2%. Interesting.

Monday, February 21, 2011

W.R. Berkley 401k (PSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010




Only one of the 30 plan investment options does not have a positve 5yr APR and that is company stock WRB. The Balanced portfolio has all but 5 of the plan options in the portfolio which has a good 5yr return and is diversified. The employee portfolio was hurt by company stock and their asset allocation in general. There are two good PIMCO funds in the plan. Even so the employee portfolio 5yr return is not bad and the money market fund helped a bit.


Friday, February 18, 2011

Lincoln Electric 401k (ESP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Lincoln Electric plan continues to be helped by company stock LECO and the Balanced portfolio has improved a bit over last year. All but 2 of the investment options are now in the Balanced portfolio. The 2 largest holdings are the bond fund PTTRX and the retirment income fund VTINX. The stable value fund FMIP now only has 6.3% of the plan a clear indication that equity markets are improving. The employee portfolio largest holding is still company stock at 28.2% of that portfolio. This Cleveland company's 401k plan conitinues to do well.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Abbott Labs 401k (SRP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Abbott Labs 401k plan has made incremental improvement over last year and the Balanced portfolio now has 6.4% of the portfolio in company stock ABT. There was no information posted on the employee portfolio. All but 3 of the investment options are in the Balanced portfolio with the stable value fund SVF.hpx in the scan the largest holding at 34.1% of the plan. A good plan helped a little by company stock again this year.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

SEI Investments 401k (CAP) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



This is a financial services company. All the plan investment options are SEI collective trusts, SEI mutual funds and company stock SEIC. The company has more funds (506) than shareholders (426). The SEI Target Date funds in the plan are S&P Target Date ETF funds TZD,E,G,I,L,O,V and they do not yet have 5yr data. The corresponding Vanguard TDFs were used in the scan. Other proxies in the scan for the same reason are VLACX for SLGAX, NAESX for SLLAX and VMMXX for TPRXX. FTSE All-World Ex-US index data were used to provide missing 5yr data for WEUSX. The Balanced portfolio is above average and includes all the investment options.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

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



Only 3 0f the 28 investment options in the scan are NOT in the Balanced portfolio. That seems to be a trend this year and it is a positive trend. The Balanced portfolio's 2 largest holdings are the stable value fund SVF.hpx in the scan at 22.5% and the bond fund PTTRX at 19.9%. That portfolio invested 3.2% of plan in company stock KYO and the employee portfolio has a small amount in the stock too. The plan trustee is T. Rowe Price which I don't see often and their Target Date Funds are above average. All in all a good plan helped a little by company stock.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Edwards Lifesciences 401k (SIP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010




This plan also continues to be helped by company stock EW and the Balanced portfolio invested 17.0% of the portfolio in the stock and the employees have 22.5% of the plan in company stock. The company is located in Irvine not too far from UCI and I spent a bit more time on this scan than most. In particular I added a contour plot of to the 3D scan images to better see what the design space surface looks like in a "plan view". The SEC 11-k report did not have detailed asset allocation data by fund and a uniform portfolio was posted for comparison purposes. The stock is a bit too volatile for me but I have several UCI graduates among my children and grandchildren.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Lubrizol 401k (PSSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Lubrizol plan was helped again this year by company stock LZ which has double digit 3yr, 5yr and 10yr returns. The Balanced portfolio invested 6.9% of the portfolio in the stock and the employee portfolio has it as their second largest holding. All of the investment options except GSTIF are in the Balanced portfolio. Interesting. The only change in the scan was the retirement of L2010 by the US Government TSP plan and it was replaced in the scan by STNRX. The only negative is LZ volatility which is always high but the 3yr, 5yr and 10yr Sharpe ratios are positive.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

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



The plan Balanced portfolio has improved with the economy since the last scan 12-31-2008 but company stock HUM still does not have a positive 5yr Sharpe ratio. The largest holding is the stable value fund SVF.hpx in the scan compared to over 90% in 2008. All the investment options except HUM are in the Balanced portfolio and the employee portfolio has 15.5% invested in company stock. In the scan the Schwab Managed Retirement Trust Income Fund is SMRTIF.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

State of Ohio 401k (457) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The plan has made incremental improvement over last year and the Balanced portfolio has money in all but one of the investment options in the scan. The 5yr Balanced portfolio return is 5.47% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.79. A good plan with a good web site for participants. My only suggestion would be to consider a sector fund like commodities.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Kansas City Southern 401k (GWRU) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



The Balanced portfolio was helped by company stock KSU again this year and continues to make incremental performance gains. It invested 4.7% of the portfolio in the stock and the employee portfolio invested 29.9% in the stock. A good plan and a very good company stock that is in my SharpeStockPortfolio inspite of high volatility. The top 3 holdings of the Balanced portfolio are the stable value fund SVF.idx in the scan at 46.5%, PTTRX at 31.7% and company stock.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Baxter International 401k (IIP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010



What a difference a year can make. Company stock BAX had a bad year in 2010 and the Balanced portfolio invested only 2.9% of the portfolio this year which is based on 5yr return data. Volatility kills compounding its that simple. This year the scan added one more target date fund STWRX which has 5yr data now and FUNDF for the income funds held as collateral by the plan. I do not know the history of the plan but the collateral may have come from a defined benefit plan. A good plan working through a bad year for company stock.