Healthcare Services Group 401k (RSP) PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Healthcare Serices Group 401k plan is good, the stock HCSG has done well for years and it pays a nice dividend. The Balanced portfolio invested 6.1% of the portfolio in the stock and has an above average 5yr APR of 6.82% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.35. The only negative is the stock price which is high, way too high by Ben Graham standards today. The employee portfolio largest holding is the money market fund PNIXX and they have 6.8% of it invested in company stock about the same as the Balanced portfolio. Interesting.

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

In the last three years the Weatherford 401k Balanced portfolio 5yr APR has risen from 4.43% to 5,.44% and this year to 6.08%. The improvement was not driven by company stock WFT although a little of the stock is in the portfolio. This is a pretty volatile stock. Also, the Plan investment options have changed little. All this is an indication of a good plan with several equity investment options having rising Sharpe ratios. At the same time the stable value fund, VRST in the scan,  has shrunk from 70% to 43% to 25% of Plan. Another positive 401k performance indicator.

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

The last Raytheon 401k scan was in 2008. This scan using 2010 market data has a Balanced portfolio 5yr APR of 6.11% with a Sharpe ratio of 2.01 both above average and about the same as antebellum 2008 performance. The Plan is large with over 30 investment options including company stock RTN which has done well the last 5 years compared to most. The employee portfolio invested 9.9% of Plan in the stock and the Balanced portfolio 1.1%. In the scan the Blackrock EAFE Equity Index is FUNDQ. All in all a good plan with above average performance the last 5 years.

Clorox 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Clorox 401k Plan 11-k report and the Form 5500 report did not have all the information needed for a design scan. In cases like this I use the Hewitt 401k Index to complete the portfolio categories. The Form 5500 data indicate the plan trustee is T. Rowe Price and has other Plan information used for the scan

Hewitt 401k Index Category             T. Rowe Price or Index Fund

Money Market ................................PRRXX
Stable Value ....................................SVF.hpx
International ....................................PRITX
Bond .............................................PRWBX
Balanced .......................................RPBAX
Lifestyle ..........................................TRRIX, TRRAX, etc.
Large US Equity ..............................PREIX
Mid US Equity ................................PRDMX
Small US Equity ...............................PRDSX
Emerging Market ..............................PRMSX
Sector .........................................PRNEX
Company Stock ..............................CLX

The scan Balanced portfolio has a 5y APR of 4.66% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.04. Company stock CLX helped a little but not enough to make the 5% or greater asset allocation this year for that portfolio. The employee portfolio has about 15% of the 401k invested in company stock. Again this scan represented missing investment option data using the Hewitt 401k Index dated August 2010 and T. Rowe Price funds.

Campbell Soup 401k (SSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Campbell Soup 401k Balanced portfolio 5yr performance is about the same as last year a little below average. On a positive note the Fidelity stable value fund FMIP only has 5.4% invested in it this year and there are 6 investment options with over 5% of plan invested in them. Two of them FFFAX and FFFBX are Fidelity target date retirement funds. The employee portfolio largest holding by far is company stock CPB which has a 5yr APR of 5.96% with a small positive Sharpe ratio of 0.15.

A SharpeStockPortfolio PSDS Design Scan 12-31-2010

 3 year period

 5 year period

10 year period

The scan of this Sharpe stock portfolio last year with 2009 market data is repeated here with 2010 market data again for 3yr, 5yr, and 10yr periods. One of the stocks did not have a good 2010 but most did and the Balanced portfolios all still have double digit period returns with Sharpe ratios greater than 1.0. I still own Berkshire Hathaway, Church and Dwight, and McDonald's and a few others in the Sharpe stock portfolio. Hope to see you next year about this time with the 2011 market data scans.

USC 401k (RSP) Vanguard Option PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

This is the second USC 401k Plan option scanned. The first was the Prudential option and this scan is for the Vanguard option. It has 75 investment options way too many for most investors to evaluate and rebalance on a regular basis. Funds without positive 5yr Sharpe ratios are not in the scan and a few redundant funds were eliminated too leaving 50 funds in the scan. The Balanced portfolio invested 5% or more of the Plan in only 6 funds with 31 funds having less than 2% invested in them. That's not a good portfolio either; still way too many funds to manage. If I were a plan participant there are only about 12 funds in the Vanguard 401k option that would be in my portfolio. Individual plan participants will differ on the 12 but you do not need 50 funds in your retirement portfolio.

New York Times 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The New York Times 401k employee portfolio has very little invested in company stock. The stock has a 5yr APR of -15.1% and is down -26.4% year-to-date. The Balanced portfolio has a 5yr APR of 5.45% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.09; its largest holdings are a stable value fund VRST4, a money market fund VMMXX, a bond fund DODIX and interestingly an emerging market value fund DFEVX. This is a good 401k plan with a troubled company stock. I am a long time subscriber of the paper and hope they find a way to keep publishing. I plan to keep reading.

Mine Safety Appliances 401k (RSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

This companies 401k Plan was not helped by company stock MSA, which is still recovering from a bad 2008. The Plan has mostly Fidelity investment options and a good Balanced portfolio 5yr APR of 5.20% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.20. That portfolios largest holdings are bond funds and a Fidelity stable value fund FMIP2 in the scan. The employee portfolio's largest holdings are FMIP2 and FCNTX with very little invested in MSA. All in all a good plan and a company stock that may be undervalued in my opinion.

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

WellPoint made several changes to its 401k Plan investment options and they are almost all Vanguard funds now. One of the changes removed PTTRX and added VBMFX  and VIPSX. The Balanced portfolio this year has about the same 5yr performance but with different funds. Company stock WLP was down in 2010 and now has a negative 5yr APR of -6.6%. It is still over 5% of the employee portfolio. Their 3 largest holdings are the money market fund VMMXX, the Institutional index fund VINIX and the bond fund VBMFX. They are also 2 of the largest holdings of the Balanced portfolio and that rarely happens.

Harris Corp. 401k (RP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Harris 401k Plan Balanced portfolio has less than 5% invested in company stock HRS this year compared to over 16% in 2009. The scan now includes several Blackrock LifePath funds and one of them STLAX is the third largest holding in the portfolio this year. The employee portfolio investments greater than 5% of plan are IWD, AGG, EFA, STVSX and SPY in the scan. The plan trustee is Northern Trust and the ETFs are the index for NT collective funds in the 401k. The 11-k report is complicated. Overall the Plan is average and the 11-k report could improve its description of Plan investment options in my opinion.

Brigham, Inc. 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Brigham 401k Plan Balanced portfolio has an above average return even without the recent stock price surge after a buyout offer was announced. The company is in the oil and gas exploration business in the US. That portfolio invested more than 5% of the 401k in 8 investment options but BEXP was not one of them because of its very high volatility. The 3 largest holdings were the bond fund PTTRX, the money market fund SWIXX and the global fund SGOVX. The employee portfolio largest holding by far was company stock BEXP with PTTRX and SWIXX the second and third largest holdings. This may be one of those rare times when sage advice about not investing too much in company stock is called into question.

Limited Brands, Inc. 401k (SRP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

Limited Brands 401k in 2008 had only 2 funds in the Balanced portfolio and company stock was not one of them. Two years later company stock LTD has a 5yr APR of 12.7% with a Sharpe ratio of 0.155 and the Balanced portfolio has a 5yr APR of 5.11% and a Sharpe ratio of 1.74. Things are looking up. That said the 2010 Balanced Portfolio only invested 2.0% in company stock and most of the equity options have below average 5yr returns. The Balanced portfolio's 3 largest holdings are the GIC, the bond fund PTTRX and a short-term income fund SSTBX in the scan. The employee portfolio's largest holding is company stock.

Timken Co. 401k (SIPP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

There are many Timken 401k plans with SEC-11k reports. This scan is for the Savings and Investment Pension Plan (SIPP). The Balanced portfolio invested 3.5% of the portfolio in company stock TKR and the employee portfolio has almost 10 times that at 30.5% their largest holding by far. A good stock the last 5 years but very volatile. The 3 largest holdings of the Balanced portfolio are the stable value fund SVF.hpx in the scan, the JP Morgan core bond fund OBOCX and the Vanguard retirement income fund VTINX. That portfolio has a 5yr APR of 5.00% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.11, about average for 401k plans.

Salesforce 401k Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Salesforce 401k Plan  does not include company stock CRM which has done very well the last 5 years. The Balanced portfolio of this mostly Fidelity plan has a 5yr APR of 5.03% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.0, about average for the 401k plans scanned the last few years. I have no information on employee asset allocation. The Plan does not have a stable value fund and the bond fund FBIDX is the largest holding of the Balanced portfolio which invested some money in all the Plan options.

AT&T 401k (SSP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The last AT&T 401k scan in 2008 was for their RSP plan, they have several 401k plans. This year the scan is for their SSP plan , which has only 7 investment options. Most are from Barclay Global Investors and four are virtually the same as Barclay funds in the US Government 401k TSP Plan; FUNDC, FUNDF, FUNDI and FUNDS. They are used in the scan along with GIC.ekx for the Interest Income Fund and MALOX for the Global Equity Fund. The SSP Balanced portfolio 5yr APR is 5.31% with a Sharpe ratio of 2.38 and the Balanced portfolio for the TSP plan scanned earlier had a 5yr APR equal 5.24% and a Sharpe ratio of 2.91. An interesting 401k design strategy, low cost and about average 5yr performance. If AT&T stock were not so volatile it would be above average.

Brown-Forman Corp. 401k (SP) Plan PSDS Scan 12-31-2010

The Brown-Forman 401k Plan was helped a little by company stock BF.B and the Balanced portfolio invested 5.3% of the portfolio in the stock. The employee portfolio has 6.7% in the stock and their largest holding is the Fidelity stable value fund FMIP in the scan. The 3 largest holdings of the Balanced portfolio are the bond fund PTTRX, the money market fund FRTXX and the retirement income fund FFFAX. Once again just about the highest 5yr return fund is PIMCO's bond fund PTTRX with a 5yr APR over 8%. Interesting times.