Fiduciary Handbook for Understanding and Selecting Target Date Funds

This book is written by 3 industry experts for fiduciaries who select target date funds, which means it’s directed primarily to pension consultants.

The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become. Ben Herbster, Author At $1 trillion and growing, target date funds are huge, and the DOL has opened the door for advisers to profit. Specifically the Department of Labor tips for target date fund fiduciaries counsel “a custom TDF may offer advantages to your plan participants by giving you the ability to incorporate the plan’s core funds in a TDF.” There are other opportunities for advisers, but custom TDFs are the most lucrative, providing fees to advisers of 10-50 basis points. But going through the TDF door takes courage & commitment because it comes with fiduciary responsibility. That’s why we wrote the Target Date Fund Handbook to help pension consultants and plan sponsors. The book covers target date funds of all types: custom, mutual funds, collective trusts, etc. It’s a must read for fiduciaries.

Ronald J. Surz is president of PPCA Inc. and its division, Target Date Solutions. He is a pension consulting veteran, having started with A.G. Becker in the 1970's. Ron earned an MBA in Finance at the University of Chicago and an MS in Applied Mathematics at the University of Illinois, and holds a CIMA® (Certified Investment Management Analyst®) designation. He has published regularly in such publications as The Journal of Wealth Management, The Journal of Investing, Journal of Portfolio Management, Pensions & Investments, Senior Consultant, HorsesMouth and the IMCA® Monitor, as well as contributed to and edited several books