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

A lot has changed since the last American Tower 401k design scan in 2008. Company stock AMT is no longer an investment option and the company recently announced it was reorganizing as a REIT for tax purposes. The Balanced portfolio without company stock has a 5yr APR = 4.08% compared to a 5y APR = 16.08% in the 2008 design scan. Company stock was the largest holding in the 2008 portfolio and this year it is money market fund FRTXX. The top 3 holdings of the employee portfolio in the latest SEC 11-k report are FDGRX, FUSEX and NYVTX. I hope their 2008 AMT stock holdings are in a trust or ESOP. There is not much more to say.

Automated Data Processing 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The last Automated Data Processing 401k scan was in 2008. They have made few changes since then. The Balanced portfolio continues to invest a little, 7.9%,  in company stock ADP. The employees invested 11.3% of their money in the stock and it is close to the Balanced portfolio in the scan 2D chart. Both are below the average 401k plan return. The JP Morgan target date retirement funds still do not have 5yr data and are represented by corresponding funds from Fidelity and Vanguard. This is a pretty conservative plan.

Apache 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Apache 401k Plan made small changes last year; WACPX was replaced by PTTRX and FMAGX was replaced by FCNTX in the SEC 11-k report. The Balanced portfolio improved over last year to a 5yr APR = 5.13% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.38.  The employee portfolio largest holding is still company stock APA at 38.9% of the portfolio, too much for a retiree in my opinion. Like most oil companies APA is down in 2011. All in all a good plan and a very good company stock.

NADART 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

NADART's 401k investment performance data are posted on the web at http://www.nadart.org/. They have two funds managed by NADART and 25 mutual funds. The Balanced portfolio (highest Sharpe ratio) has a 5yr APR = 5.70% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.58. This portfolio should not be confused with the NADART Fund (balanced) which has a 5yr APR = 2.94% and a Sharpe ratio of 0.013. The 3 largest holdings of the Balanced portfolio are the NADART Income Fund SVF.ndr in the scan, the bond fund PTTRX and the international investors fund MALOX in the scan. All but one of the 24 investment options in the portfolio design scan are in the Balanced portfolio. This is a large 401k Plan with good diversification that serves many organizations.

New Jersey Resources 401k (RSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The New Jersey Resources 401k Plan made a few changes. The stable value fund was moved to T. Rowe Price and is SVF.hpx in the scan. The plan was again helped a lot by company stock NJR and the Balanced portfolio invested 19.9% of the portfolio in the stock. Most of the employee money in the stock is in an ESOP and is not participant directed but it is their largest holding. The Balanced portfolio 5yr APR = 7.41% and Sharpe ratio of 1.73 should put this 401k Plan in the running for the Top 10 list for the year.

Unitrin Inc. 401k (SP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

Effective 8-25-2011 Unitrin will change its name to Kemper an old-line insurance company they bought in 2002. The new stock symbol will be KMPR. The 401k Plan design scan today uses the old symbol UTR.

This 401k Plan was not helped by company stock which has a negative 5yr APR = -6.61% thanks to high volatility which kills compounding. The 5yr average return was 3.4% which buys you nothing. The other Plan investment options produced a Balanced portfolio 5yr APR = 6.48% with a positive Sharpe ratio of 1.36. The 3 largest holdings are PTTRX, WFSRF and VTINX all income funds. The Plan has above average income investment options and below average equity options.

Alliance Data Systems 401k (RSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The last Alliance Data Systems 401k Plan design scan was in 2008. This year the 401k Plan Balanced portfolio was helped by company stock ADS and an improving market to an above average 5yr APR = 6.66% with a positive Sharpe ratio of 1.03. The 3 largest holdings are PTTRX, the Schwab stable value fund SVF.cs in the scan and company stock ADS. The employee portfolio largest holding was DODGX which has not done well the last 5 years. This is a small plan fairly well diversified and helped by company stock.

Potash Corp. 401k (ESP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Potash 401k Plan is dominated by company stock POT which has an incredible 5yr APR = 42.56% with a positive Sharpe ratio of 0.44. Last year it was "only" 32%. The Balanced portfolio invested 8.5% of the portfolio in the stock and the employees have over 1/3 of their portfolio in the stock. The 401k Plan trustee is Fidelity and the 2 largest holdings of the Balanced portfolio are FRTXX a money market fund and FFXSX a short-intermediate term governement bond fund. This is a good plan and an extraordinary company stock the last 5 years. Next year should be interesting.

Berkshire Hathaway Top 10 Stock Portfolio PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

Last year I scanned the Berkshire Hathaway Top 15 stock portfolio based on asset allocation. This year only the Top 10 holdings are in the scan. The Balanced portfolio 5yr APR = 7.88% out performed the actual asset allocation and Berkshire Hathaway stock BRK for this 5yr period. The 3 largest holdings in the Balanced portfolio are KO at 38.8%, WMT at 19.5% and KFT at 14.6%. The off the chart low 5yr return stock was MCO as the 2D scan correlation chart shows. Maybe its time to start paying that dividend mentioned every year at the shareholder meeting. Next year would be nice.

USG Corp. 401k (IP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The USG 401k Plan was not helped by company stock UGS which had a very negative 5yr APR = -23.68% and high volatility. Even Berkshire Hathaway has been selling some its shares in the company. The Plan Balanced portfolio has a 5yr APR = 5.65% and a positive Sharpe ratio of 1.76 thanks mostly to PTTRX, PGBOX and a money market fund CJLXX. Its another lifeboat portfolio and this one has an anchor evident in the 3D scan image. This is not a bad 401k plan and it has a few good income investment options.

Coca Cola 401k (TIP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Coca Cola 401k Plan has changed a few funds but company stock KO continues to be the best equity option in the plan. The Target Date Funds are now from American Funds and they do not yet have 5yr market data. In the scan they are represented by Wells Fargo Advantage and T. Rowe Price target date funds with 5yr data. Also the Bank of America Retirement Preservation Trust is represented by VRST in the scan. The Balanced portfolio has a 5yr APR = 5.91% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.73. The employee's largest holding by far is company stock at 50.8% of their portfolio which has a 5yr APR = 8.61% with a Sharpe ratio of 0.59. All in all a good 401k plan and a great old company stock. My only suggestion would be to prune some of the deadwood from the 34 investment options in the plan.

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

This 401k plan and the last one scanned make it easy to see why PTTRX is the largest mutual fund in the world. It has low risk and the highest 5yr APR of all the fund options in this 401k plan too including the stable value fund. That concerns me and others including PIMCO who know we cannot all get in the same lifeboat.

That said the Dollar General 401k has a Balanced portfolio with a 5yr APR = 5.72 and a Sharpe ratio of 1.75 well above average. Company stock DG does not have 5yr market data after its 2009 IPO by its parent company KKR. They bought it from Turner & Sons in 2007. Recently Berkshire Hathaway invested in the stock which piqued my interest. The 401k Savings and Retirement Plan does not have many options but PTTRX is one of them.  The employee portfolio invested 20.7% of their portfolio in company stock. Thats about all there is to say right now.

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

The last Amazon 401k scan was 4-30-2008. The Plan investment options are the same today as far as I know. In the scan posted today I compared the present Balanced portfolio to the 2008 Balanced portfolio using 12-31-2010 market data. I keep all the Thomson Reuters market data files for research like this. As the 2D comparison shows a buy-and-hold strategy performed badly. In antebellum 2008 the bond fund PTTRX was the second smallest holding at 7.9% of Plan and had the lowest 5yr APR of all the investment options. In the current 401k scan PTTRX is the largest holding at 84.2% and has the highest 5yr APR of all the options.

We all know rebalancing is important but this comparison reminds just how far out of balance no pun intended a 401k portfolio can get in less than 3 years and this 401k does not include company stock AMZN. I hope this reminder encourages plan participants to keep their portfolios rebalanced. I do this most quarters but it required more than rebalancing when the Capital Market Line inverted in late 2008.

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

In January 2009 the UPS 401k Plan added company stock UPS to the Plan. It is now the second largest holding of the employee portfolio. The stock is not in the Balanced portfolio because it does not have a positive 5yr Sharpe ratio. The 3 largest holdings of the Balanced portfolio are the benchmark for the State Street passive bond market index AGG in the scan, STWRX and TIP all 3 are income funds. The employee portfolio largest holding is SVSPX and it has not done well the last 5 years. SVSPX tracks the S&P 500 index. Check the 3D scan image for details on the Balanced portfolio asset allocation. This 401k Plan performance is about average with a healthy looking 3D scan to my eye.

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

The Time Warner 401k Balanced portfolio has a 5yr APR = 5.23% with a very high Sharpe ratio. This a lifeboat portfolio with 80% of the portfolio in the GIC and the Blackrock US Debt Index represented by FUNDF in the scan. This same fund is in the US Government 401k (TSP) Plan as FUND F. Company stock is not in the Balanced portfolio. The employee portfolio has a 5yr APR = 2.46% with high volatility. This plan could use a few better equity investment options.

Wells Fargo & Co. 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Wells Fargo 401k Plan has 24 investment options and 2 of them, ESOP and Non-ESOP, are company stock WFC. The Balanced portfolio invested in most of the 23 options but WFC was not one of them. That portfolio has a 5yr APR = 4.60% up slightly from last year with a positive Sharpe ratio of 1.15. The employee asset allocation is not easy to sort into the Plan 23 options from the SEC 11-k report. The employee portfolio in the scan is my best effort. Not all the Wells Fargo Target Date Funds have 5yr data and the corresponding T. Rowe Price fund was used for them in the scan. This is an average 401k plan that would be helped by Berkshire Hathaway stock in my opinion. Just a passing thought.

John Deere 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The John Deere 401k Plan restructured its investment line-up effective 2-25-2011 creating three-choices for a retirement savings plan.

Choice 1 Blackrock LifePath Index Target Date Funds
Choice 2 Passively Managed Funds
Choice 3 Other Funds and a Brokerage Link

Choice 3 was scanned this year. It has 12 investment options including company stock DE. The Balanced portfolio was helped by company stock DE and invested 5.4% of the portfolio in the stock which I own. That helped produce a 5yr APR = 5.23% with a positive Sharpe ratio of 0.97. This is an incremental improvement over last year. Only 6 of the 12 investment options are in the Balanced portfolio and I have no information on the employee asset allocation. Some of the old 401k plan better funds like FCNTX are no longer in the Plan but the BrokerageLink makes them available.